Springboard looks great. I’d be thrilled to have Wesabe services better integrated with my bank. I just had a conversation with KeyBank customer service telling them they had better get it together. Services like Wesabe are making people realize that there is something better out there, services that add real value and help people track their money, report on their financial behavior and be smarter with their money. I told KeyBank they better start playing nice with services like Wesabe or customers will be taking their business elsewhere (I was nice about it, just wanted to make sure my voice was heard).

I think banks would be crazy to not be looking at services like Springboard. Most have terrible online banking, proven by the fact that so many people are rushing to Wesabe and other like services desperate for a better way to track their financial data. Can you imagine a bank that had Wesabe and a Turbo Tax like service built in?? Talk about making your life easier!!! Are there other Wesabe community members that are also fed up with bad online banking experiences? Any recommendations on banks that have good online banking? Wouldn’t you consider a bank that used a service like Springboard? I would love to hear from other community members with your thoughts.

Now, about that cool looking Springboard UI. It’s been eight days and I’m counting them, waiting to see the changes to the consumer Wesabe. Any changes we might see a preview larger than the image above? Thanks, keep up the good work.

Happy tax time Wesabe community!

Jamie

PS. How is the iPhone app coming??

I’m a Wasabe fan. I have a concern: have you ever seen a bank web site that incorporates such a slick UI? It seems that what you have built has NO congruence with the banking industry.

Online banking sites are optimized for security. They are not optimized for a great user experience. Every new feature implementation takes a long time and requires tremendous scrutiny to ensure it is secure.

Banks implement third-party products like CheckFree and Metavante and Yodlee. Look at the UI’s of those products. Look at the implemention guides (if you can find them). “Serious” products. Not “fun” products. Not rounded corners or reflections.

Just my thoughts. Good luck!

I understand the concern. That said, the two downsides you list are both helped by integrating with banks. Nearly all of the people talking with us *do* want to open an API to make the integration closer. Of course they want you to have a better experience on their sites by working with us, but they also want the people on Wesabe to be happy with the service they provide. So, I think you’ll get both benefits, provided that your bank(s) or credit card(s) choose to work with us.

Also, a lot of our site improves the more people’s data we see (transaction editing and tagging, tips, cutback suggestions, etc.). We think working with bank populations will improve every one of those parts of the site.

1. Only have to use one website to look at my multiple accounts
2. I *don’t* have to use my crappy bank’s web sites

The biggest downsides of Wesabe are:

1. The data from the banks is incomplete (transaction names from ING, lack of info about pending transactions)
2. Wesabe only has a read-only relationship with the banks, no ability to perform actions (schedule transaction, send e-bill immediately)

This announcement is only good for web devs of big banks and bad, I would argue for people like me. Now they can say “Hey we’ve got all these great features on our website, you don’t need to use the regular Wesabe any more.” My bank account’s are my data. And I should be able to interface with them however I wish, not be beholden to the sluggish pace of innovation of the banks. In short, wake me up when you announce the banks are opening up an API that makes Wesabe better.