Comments for Elusive Wealth http://www.elusivewealth.com Demystifying Personal Finance Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:15:07 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by A http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-202 A Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:15:07 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-202 I agree with Travis. Nothing is 100% secure, sh** happens. Now, what should happen is just as above, have a separate read-only token that is used to access the account while not giving away ANY sensitive information. This would be ideal. I guess the banking system is still young in this area. I agree with Travis. Nothing is 100% secure, sh** happens. Now, what should happen is just as above, have a separate read-only token that is used to access the account while not giving away ANY sensitive information. This would be ideal. I guess the banking system is still young in this area.

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Travis Collins http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-196 Travis Collins Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:13:25 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-196 You shouldn't EVER give out your financial identification (online or offline) to anyone that's not authorized to make a transaction on that account. The moment you do, you've lost all ability for reconciliation against fraud on the account. Imagine this, someone does obtain login information to your account on your bank's website. That person then transfers funds out of your account. If your bank looks through their sever logs and finds an aggregation service, meaning you've given out your login user/pass/pin, they're no longer responsible for re-imbursing you. Even if the fraudster didn't gain access to your account because of the aggregation service, the bank's review process will note that you've violated the terms of service, and are no longer eligible for reimbursement. NEVER-EVER-EVER GIVE OUT YOUR ACCOUNT LOGIN INFORMATION. Not even to Mint.com You shouldn’t EVER give out your financial identification (online or offline) to anyone that’s not authorized to make a transaction on that account. The moment you do, you’ve lost all ability for reconciliation against fraud on the account.

Imagine this, someone does obtain login information to your account on your bank’s website. That person then transfers funds out of your account. If your bank looks through their sever logs and finds an aggregation service, meaning you’ve given out your login user/pass/pin, they’re no longer responsible for re-imbursing you. Even if the fraudster didn’t gain access to your account because of the aggregation service, the bank’s review process will note that you’ve violated the terms of service, and are no longer eligible for reimbursement.

NEVER-EVER-EVER GIVE OUT YOUR ACCOUNT LOGIN INFORMATION. Not even to Mint.com

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Frank http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-70 Frank Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:03:10 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-70 At VirtualBank we are releasing download only authentication credentials in the next few weeks that the clients can generate. You give these credentials to the aggregator and they will be allowed to login but only able to extract the account info without account numbers. If the authentication credentials are ever compromised they won't be able to transact or see any sensitive data. I just did a blog on this subject at http://theonlinebankingblog.blogspot.com At VirtualBank we are releasing download only authentication credentials in the next few weeks that the clients can generate. You give these credentials to the aggregator and they will be allowed to login but only able to extract the account info without account numbers. If the authentication credentials are ever compromised they won’t be able to transact or see any sensitive data. I just did a blog on this subject at http://theonlinebankingblog.blogspot.com

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Tom http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Tom Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:50:07 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-31 Hi Jason -- I think that is a reasonable assumption for a laptop. There probably is a greater chance of that. For my set up I have it on a relatively secure computer in my house. That certainly does not have all the auditing and monitoring of the Yodlee computers. But I am comfortable with the security of my set up. I plan on talking about that eventually in a future post. Hi Jason — I think that is a reasonable assumption for a laptop. There probably is a greater chance of that. For my set up I have it on a relatively secure computer in my house. That certainly does not have all the auditing and monitoring of the Yodlee computers. But I am comfortable with the security of my set up. I plan on talking about that eventually in a future post.

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Jason http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Jason Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:17:06 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-30 I have always been under the impression (right or wrong) that it is far more likely my laptop will get stolen than there will be a security breach at a company like Mint. So I've felt safer keeping my credentials on a machine controlled by people that probably know how to keep it secure. I have always been under the impression (right or wrong) that it is far more likely my laptop will get stolen than there will be a security breach at a company like Mint. So I’ve felt safer keeping my credentials on a machine controlled by people that probably know how to keep it secure.

]]> Comment on Income Distribution Then and Now by Francis http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/17/income-distribution-then-and-now/comment-page-1/#comment-29 Francis Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:13:59 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=240#comment-29 I believe one of the biggest driving factors has been the "cost" of debt (i.e., interest) which has been extremely cheap for a very long time. When the spread between inflation and interest rates is very low, borrowing money becomes close to free. Although, Bernanke has taken a lot of heat (and rightfully so) for some of his policies, it was Greenspan that abandoned his conservative principles from 2000 on, not allowing the marketplace to dictate interest rates. Now, Bernanke continues that tradition. It's gonna get ugly. I believe one of the biggest driving factors has been the “cost” of debt (i.e., interest) which has been extremely cheap for a very long time. When the spread between inflation and interest rates is very low, borrowing money becomes close to free. Although, Bernanke has taken a lot of heat (and rightfully so) for some of his policies, it was Greenspan that abandoned his conservative principles from 2000 on, not allowing the marketplace to dictate interest rates. Now, Bernanke continues that tradition. It’s gonna get ugly.

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Tom http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-24 Tom Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:11:15 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-24 Theresa: Thanks for your comments. You are right that Yodlee has a strong level of monitoring and auditing. There is a blog post <a href="http://www.thetaoofmakingmoney.com/2006/10/04/51.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> that has more information on Yodlee's security. This does not necessarily address someone's concern if they don't want to have all of their financial passwords in one place. But Yodlee does have impressive security procedures and practices. Theresa: Thanks for your comments. You are right that Yodlee has a strong level of monitoring and auditing. There is a blog post here that has more information on Yodlee’s security. This does not necessarily address someone’s concern if they don’t want to have all of their financial passwords in one place. But Yodlee does have impressive security procedures and practices.

]]> Comment on How Safe is Using Mint.com and Other On-Line Account Aggregators? by Theresa http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/15/how-safe-is-using-mintcom-and-other-on-line-account-aggregators/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Theresa Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:17:58 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=204#comment-23 Great post! One thing you didn't mention, which I've actually recently learned is that Yodlee is audited and monitored similarly to that of your bank. So the process is legit and secure. Great post! One thing you didn’t mention, which I’ve actually recently learned is that Yodlee is audited and monitored similarly to that of your bank. So the process is legit and secure.

]]> Comment on TransUnion Discontinues Free Credit Freezes by Tom http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/08/transunion-discontinues-free-credit-freezes/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Tom Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:57:24 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=133#comment-16 Greg: Thanks for your question. Freezing credit does require you to "thaw" your credit report if you want to obtain new credit. Usually you can ask the potential lender which bureau they check, and thaw it only for that bureau. This usually requires going on line an entering a PIN that you receive when you froze your report. To me monitoring is mostly reactive where freezing your credit is more proactive. Monitoring is something you can do for free by checking your report through annualcreditreport.com. Although it requires a little more diligence (by checking your reports through annualcreditreport.com you must check periodically, whereas with monitoring you can have alerts). Greg: Thanks for your question. Freezing credit does require you to “thaw” your credit report if you want to obtain new credit. Usually you can ask the potential lender which bureau they check, and thaw it only for that bureau. This usually requires going on line an entering a PIN that you receive when you froze your report.

To me monitoring is mostly reactive where freezing your credit is more proactive. Monitoring is something you can do for free by checking your report through annualcreditreport.com. Although it requires a little more diligence (by checking your reports through annualcreditreport.com you must check periodically, whereas with monitoring you can have alerts).

]]> Comment on TransUnion Discontinues Free Credit Freezes by greg davis http://www.elusivewealth.com/2009/06/08/transunion-discontinues-free-credit-freezes/comment-page-1/#comment-15 greg davis Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:06:31 +0000 http://www.elusivewealth.com/?p=133#comment-15 what is the benefit of freezing credit - doesn't it just make it harder to get credit and to get things that check credit like insurance? Seems like I should just get credit monitoring instead. greg what is the benefit of freezing credit – doesn’t it just make it harder to get credit and to get things that check credit like insurance? Seems like I should just get credit monitoring instead.

greg

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