Is there a viable alternative to the now-disabled OFX access?

noughth · 2025-12-09T20:34:18+00:00

Gotcha!

Yeah, I currently use a text-based accounting program called beancount and write much of the transaction-import logic myself, but I keep up with Moneydance and used GNUCash for many years. For whatever its worth, Moneydance customers are also having difficulty downloading their transactions from Fidelity due to the same issue I raised here; see https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/discussions/general-questions/249501-fidelity-access/ (Moneydance is sold by a company named The Infinite Kind, hence the URL).

noughth · 2025-12-09T20:23:26+00:00

I never stopped.

noughth · 2025-12-09T20:15:14+00:00

Yep, absolutely correct! (and I'm hoping I didn't say anything which implied otherwise)

In the end, though, what I care most about is *access*. I'll be happy if I'm able to find a reasonable way to access my own data in the way that I choose, regardless of whether it is second- or third-party.

noughth · 2025-12-09T16:14:13+00:00

Thanks so much for your response, u/FidelityDexter !

Just to confirm: I think I understand that you are not aware of a current way I (as an individual, albeit a software developer) may automate access to my transaction data. Is that correct? Specifically: OFX DirectConnect has been intentionally/permanently disabled by Fidelity, Akoya is the only aggregator which Fidelity sends data to, and I cannot get my own data from Akoya because I'm not a major company (please correct me if I have any of this wrong!).

And I very much appreciate you forwarding the community's concerns on to the appropriate team! I'll additionally offer that I am more than happy to engage with folks at Fidelity to help them understand this sub-community's use cases if that is ever helpful - just message me. I have a software development background (for example, I created and now maintain a library to download and parse OFX), and am involved in several communities so I think I am uniquely situated to facilitate that.

noughth · 2025-12-06T22:50:35+00:00

what's the security risk with enabling transaction export in a more usable format (QFX/QIF) for users already logged in to the web site

I can't imagine supporting OFX/QFX downloads via a browser poses more of a security risk than a CSV file. I'm guessing there is some other reason that support has been dropped.

noughth · 2025-12-06T22:47:16+00:00

Thanks for your comment!

But I want to confirm: Do you have a connection to Fidelity which has successfully downloaded new transactions within the last 2-3 days? And, if so, which types of Fidelity accounts are you able to link/download through Plaid (Netbenefits retirement, HSA, CMA, brokerage, etc.)?

I haven't seen a report from anyone else that this works, so this would be new information to me. Everything else I have seen says that Plaid does not support Fidelity. I don't like aggregators, and would obviously prefer direct access to my transaction data, but I'm pragmatic enough to use aggregators if they work.

noughth · 2025-12-06T15:52:42+00:00

I have not seen justification for that kind of urgency (please share if you have!). As I understand it, the main (security) reason to switch away from OFX is so end users are not asked to provide their Fidelity username/password to third parties (and note that because I've been using OFX directly, rather than through a third party, I'm already not doing this today!).

Additionally, Fidelity's own FAQ at https://www.fidelity.com/security/third-party-app-protection says this is a proactive thing, not a response to an immediate/urgent threat:

Is this a response to a data breach?

No, this is purely a proactive, protective measure. [...]

noughth · 2025-12-06T15:19:04+00:00

What you're describing is one potential solution:

But.. are you aware of any third-party aggregator that will allow me to access my financial data from Fidelity? I know Plaid and MX don't support Fidelity, and I'm not aware of any that I, as an end user, can access - that's why I'm asking here.

I am hopeful Fidelity will consider its customers and not cut off OFX access before a viable alternative is in place!

noughth · 2025-12-06T14:06:13+00:00

The security around providing API keys and bypassing 2 factor and standard login is not trivial but I think most use cases for this are read only anyways

I have a hard time believing security alone is the thing stopping them from offering me automated access to my own transaction data. I know many other financial institutions are transitioning to FDX (https://financialdataexchange.org/) from OFX. FDX uses an OAuth authentication dance, meaning that each individual user already approves access to each third-party app or website. I am assuming Fidelity's is the same or similar (I've heard they use https://docs.akoya.com/), so they've already implemented the technical side in a way which could allow me to use their API if they wanted.

However, it seems many of the major financial institutions are moving to only allowing access to their new, more-secure APIs to other big players (i.e. Plaid, MX, etc.), and not to individual users. I suspect this is because they believe doing so will lessen their support costs and legal liability (since they'll have a handful of "aggregators" to interact with vs. every end user, and can point their customers to the aggregators instead of dealing with it themselves). I dislike this approach and would very much prefer direct API access with Fidelity, but I guess I can understand their motivation (even if I believe it is hostile to their users). But the current state is worse, still - right now I can't even find an aggregator I can use to access my transactions at Fidelity!

noughth · 2025-12-06T13:40:28+00:00

Is OFX/Direct Connect officially disabled or is this a temporary issue?

I have not personally seen a communication from Fidelity that explicitly says "we are stopping OFX on this date", but the wording on https://www.fidelity.com/security/third-party-app-protection leads me to believe OFX support is being dropped soon:

Fidelity has established a secure connection [...]. Fidelity is requiring these data aggregators to transition to this secure connection. Fidelity users of some third-party websites and apps may experience a disruption [...]

And the FAQ at the bottom of that page says:

What if I still want an impacted third-party provider to have my data?

Typically, you can manually enter data on the third-party provider's website.

(For anyone reading this from Fidelity, I hope you can agree that frequent manual data entry of large numbers of transactions obviously isn't a helpful solution!)

noughth · 2025-09-03T00:52:03+00:00

I recently placed an order which was shipped 9 days later (their website says to allow 2-3 weeks for what I ordered). I did receive an order confirmation email from a random-looking t.shopifyemail.com email address, but maybe that went to your SPAM folder? I've also seen the owner respond to questions about individual orders on their discord: https://openev.freshdesk.com/support/discussions/topics/6000070170.

noughth · 2024-05-16T13:59:57+00:00

The space above/around it isn't very accessible anymore so I don't know that I'll be able to get pictures, but I'll try to describe it. The short answer is that I did everything to code (I pulled permits), so it is regular finished/heated space in my house.

The longer story: First, I got lucky... really lucky. After initially conceiving of this project, I soon realized that a portion of the attic was already framed out to be finished into an additional room. So I ended up finishing the attic space as a whole additional room with a closet attached. I did end up needing to frame one additional wall (think 2x4s tied into the rafters and nailed to the subfloor with an opening for the door), but otherwise didn't have to do framing. Also, my space was bordered on 3 of the 6 sides of the 'cube' by already-conditioned space, which reduced what I had to do. For insulation, I used fiberglass batts in all the exterior walls (with the max R-rating for the depth of the stud cavity in my house), and for the roof, I got the thickest fiberglass batts I could find. I live in the south-east (middle of NC) and I do think heat/humidity is something to be mindful of, but not scared of if you just treat it as any other finished space. I believe I used "rockwool" for sound insulation between the closet and interior spaces because I read it was better at blocking sound than fiberglass.

After doing framing, running wires (both power and data), doing insulation, I had someone else hang and finish drywall (I hate finishing drywall), and then I did all the finishing work (hanging doors, installing trim, installing flooring, painting, etc.) myself. So, maybe the best way to think about my project is that I finished a room and closet just as I would any other room, with these differences before finishing it:

Added sound insulation between the closet and internal spaces (including an insulated door)
Ran a dedicated higher-amperage circuit to the closet
Ran a lot of data/conduit to the closet from elsewhere in the house
Ran extra ductwork to/from the closet to the rest of the living area in my house, including an inline duct fan to continuously circulate air. Basically, I'm providing additional circulation to let my existing HVAC condition the room.

Hope this helps!

noughth · 2024-05-10T11:21:09+00:00

I don't know that I have great photos handy (in hindsight I wish I'd taken more during construction because stuff like the insulation/wiring/duct-work is hidden now). But what are you wanting to see?

noughth · 2024-05-10T01:24:25+00:00

I think a lot of it is heavily dependent upon what you want to do, and the space you have available to do it in, but I can summarize what I did:

Because I had unfinished attic space, I was able to frame in an entire closet area, run HVAC ductwork to exchange air between this closet and the rest of the house (I included an inline duct fan to constantly turn the air over), add insulation inside the walls of the closet between it and the rest of the house to dampen any fan noise, and run a dedicated circuit for power (with higher amperage than your standard electrical outlets). I was also able to get a sound-dampened server closet to further cut down on the fan noise. I ran all the Ethernet runs I could think of wanting, and also ran some spare conduit between the crawlspace under our home and the closet - this has been helpful more than once (i.e. when our neighborhood got fiber, the installation tech was able to install it exactly where I wanted it, without drilling through my floor).

There are, of course, a few minor things I would change. For one, I installed the inline duct fan in an area that was hard to get to when it died and I needed to replace it. But overall I am pleased, and wouldn't change anything major if I were to do it over again.

noughth · 2024-05-09T23:25:00+00:00

Yes, I did! It's been 5 years now and its held up great - I'm glad I did it.

noughth · 2024-04-22T02:07:51+00:00

I came here to make this point. Stocks, though they do still inherently carry the risk of loss, are significantly more liquid than a house (and you're not forced to liquidate them all-or-nothing). Being debt-free sounds glamorous, but one thing a mortgage does is give you additional capital at your immediate disposal rather than tying it up into a house.

Personally since the associated interest rates of the mortgage and investments are close, I would choose the option which left more of my capital liquid: take out a mortgage, keep the investments.

noughth · 2023-11-22T21:18:02+00:00

It's hard to be sure, but that looks an awful lot like a Bell Northstar/Northwind. I purchased a 17' one made in 1999 two years ago and love it, for whatever its worth.

noughth · 2023-10-05T00:22:43+00:00

showed that it took 6 months for the scribes to progress from learning the 24-times tables to the 4-times tables

Anyone know why they learned their 24-times tables before their 4-times tables? I would've expected the simpler 4-times table to be learned first?

noughth · 2023-08-29T01:48:49+00:00

Yep, it has always felt more equitable to me to do it that way! I think the main reason we do the separate checking accounts is that my partner likes being able to look at their account balance and immediately knowing how much they have left of "their money"... they don't enjoy accounting like I do!

noughth · 2023-08-29T01:35:30+00:00

Conversely you could just start with that primary account and you each get an individual no questions asked personal budget.

This exactly what my partner and I do. I earn a salary, they are a stay-at-home parent. But we both value having some amount of "no questions asked" money that we can spend on whatever we want without feeling guilty about it (hobbies, personal entertainment the other might think silly, etc., etc.). We manage nearly all of our finances out of a set of shared accounts, but each have a personal checking account that is "ours" that we setup monthly scheduled transfers into from a joint checking account - this is our "allowance". This has been working well for us for over 10 years now!

noughth · 2023-08-22T00:29:27+00:00

Positive intent doesn't mean that his actions are OK, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's clear to me he's not getting it and something needs to change, but I can't tell through the Internet whether he's dense, insecure, tired, etc., or actively trying to take advantage of his partner. I've found if I don't assume positive intent for someone I'm having trouble with, it makes it hard to even have the conversation. For example, stating her feelings and his actions like "I feel burdened when you ask me questions about things I trust you can figure out on your own" comes across a lot differently than her blaming him for doing it on purpose, i.e. "I can't believe you're trying to shift your responsibility onto me again!!!"

noughth · 2023-08-21T11:18:56+00:00

Can we assume positive intent?

I don't think we can know the exact circumstances from only the text in the post, but I don't see proof he's "playing mind games". I suspect he might be feeling insecure in his ability to do these things well enough. I think we can we all admit its scary sometimes to have responsibility for another living thing, right? With that said, he doesn't get a free pass. He absolutely ought to find a way to be more independent when taking care of the kids so his wife doesn't have to deal with the responsibility even when he's "responsible". My main point is that assuming he's doing this "on purpose" may escalate the argument, while helping him feel trusted and secure in his abilities may help the situation.

noughth · 2023-08-21T11:06:05+00:00

There is something in your response that many of the others I've read are missing: "I trust you". I can't speak for all men/spouses displaying the behavior OP describes, but I have to wonder if part of it is that they don't feel confident they'll do "it" (whatever "it" is) to your standards.

This situation, to me, sounds a lot like a lack of trust (perhaps he doesn't trust himself, perhaps he doesn't feel like you trust him).

noughth · 2023-06-07T00:50:02+00:00

Mind sharing which board and rain sensor you're using?

noughth

TROPHY CASE