How do I update my accounts using Direct Access?

Direct Access is included in your Banktivity subscription service offered by IGG Software that allows you to view all of your financial transactions in Banktivity as soon as they become available in your online accounts. If you are in the United States, it also allows you to update your real estate values using Slipstream. Set up your account login details just once, then update everything with a single click. Direct Access supports thousands of financial institutions, large and small.

An internet connection is required to update using Direct Access. If you are not connected to the internet, feel free to set up your accounts manually. You can always configure online access for them at a later date.

Begin Direct Access setup

Setting up a new account with Direct Access:

Click the plus (+) button on the left side of the toolbar and choose "Add Account," or choose File > Add > Account. The new account assistant will open to help you create an account:

On this screen, you are asked to choose whether or not the account you are setting up is held at a financial institution. To use Direct Access, select the first option and click "Next" to proceed.

Adding Direct Access to an existing account:

If your account is already set up in Banktivity, and you simply want to enable Direct Access for it, select the account in the sidebar and choose Account > Set Up Automatic Downloads. If the screen that appears says "Account Connection Status," then the account is already set up for either Direct Access or direct download. Otherwise, you should see the title, "Enable Online Access." Read over the information on this screen and click "Find My Bank" to proceed.

Choose a financial institution

On this screen, choose the financial institution that holds the account. Begin typing the name of the institution in the search box to narrow down the choices, then select the appropriate name from the list and click "Next" to proceed. If your institution is not listed, Direct Access does not currently support it: click "Configure New Bank," enter the bank name and website address, then click "Next" to proceed with web download or manual setup.

Choose a connection type

Once you choose an institution, Banktivity will ask the servers at IGG Software what types of connections are currently available for your selection. If Direct Access is listed, select it and click "Next" to continue. If you do not see Direct Access as one of the available choices, then your financial institution is not currently supported and you will need to proceed with one of the other options.

Log in for banks not using the Open Banking connection

If you are not already signed in with your Banktivity ID, you will be prompted to enter your login and password. Once you have done so, click "Submit" to continue. Next, Banktivity will prompt you to enter the login details for your financial institution:

Type in the username and password that you use when logging in to your financial institution's website, then click "Sign In" to proceed. If your institution requires an additional mode of authentication (such as MFA), Banktivity will prompt you for that before continuing on. Login details only need to be entered once: the username and password for each account are stored with our secure service provider and are used automatically when you update your accounts. For more information, see Security & Privacy.

If your bank supports Open Banking

If your bank has begun to use the newer connection method that is called Open Banking, your connection will look different. You will see a window that asks for your permission to request access to certain information from the bank.

When you choose Continue, you will open a new web browser window on your device using your default browser. This page will be a direct link to your bank that will ask you to log in and confirm that you give IGG Software access to certain information for your accounts. This connection method is more reliable and secure than banks that do not offer Open Banking at this time, see Security & Privacy.

Select accounts to import

Once you are logged in to your financial institution, Banktivity will display a list of all the accounts you hold at that institution that can be downloaded using Direct Access:

If you are adding new accounts, check off the accounts you wish to use in Banktivity. A checkbox may be disabled if you are already using that account in your Banktivity document. To rename the account before adding it to your document, click on its name and make the necessary changes. To change the account type and/or currency, click on the current setting and select an alternative from the drop-down menu. Once you have all the accounts set up the way you want them, click "Add Selected Accounts."

If you are configuring Direct Access for an existing account, simply select the online account you want to associate with your Banktivity account and click "Enable Selected Account" to proceed.

Enter loan information (loan accounts only)

If you chose to import one or more loan accounts, Banktivity downloaded your recent payment history and current principal balance. It will prompt you to configure the payment amounts, interest rate, and other loan settings. For more information about the setup process for loan accounts, see Tracking Loans.

Fix cost basis (investment accounts only)

If you chose to import one or more investment accounts, Banktivity downloaded your current holdings and as much of your transaction history as possible. If a complete history was not available, however, the cost basis for the securities in that account is likely to be incorrect. To check if your cost basis is complete, choose Account > Fix Cost Basis. If there are any shares that have gaps in their history, they will appear in a list:

For each security that appears in the list, click the "Edit" button and Banktivity will prompt you to enter its cost details. You can either average the original purchase price of the missing shares and record them as a single lot, or you can enter multiple lots with different share prices.

Enter the date on which the shares were purchased, the number of shares bought, and whatever price details you have: the total cost of the purchase, the amount of commission paid, and/or the price paid per share. Click "Next" to record the lot. If you have not accounted for all the missing shares of the security in question, Banktivity will prompt you to enter another lot. Once all shares have been accounted for, Banktivity will show you a list of the lots you recorded:

If any changes need to be made, click the "Edit" button next to a lot to adjust or delete it. When all the details are correct, click "Next" to return to the list of securities with missing cost basis information. Once you have recorded the cost basis for all securities in the list, click "Done" to return to the main window.

It pays to be meticulous when recording your cost basis! Missing or incorrect cost data can cause Banktivity to miscalculate the value of your investments when you generate reports. Request a copy of your transaction history from your brokerage, if necessary, to ensure that you are recording the correct information in Banktivity.

Complete account setup

One final screen will notify you that setup is complete. If you just finished adding a new account, Banktivity will give you the option to set up another.

Update account transactions

By default, whenever you open a document, Banktivity will automatically update all accounts that are configured with online access. You can update at any time by clicking the "Update" button on the toolbar or choosing View > Bring Up to Date. A spinner will appear next to each online account while it is updating. Any new transactions that are available in your Direct Access accounts will be downloaded and added to those accounts automatically, and a number will appear next to each account in the sidebar to show you how many transactions were imported. To update a single account, select it in the sidebar and choose Account > Download Transactions.

During the update, Banktivity will automatically screen out any duplicate transactions, mark all transactions "cleared" that were imported or matched by incoming transactions, and apply import rules to clean and categorize the incoming transactions. It will also match transfers between accounts automatically, but you can disable this feature by choosing Banktivity > Settings and unchecking "Automatically match transfers between accounts."

To review the results of the import, see Reviewing Imported Transactions.

If you don't want Banktivity to update accounts automatically when you open documents, choose Banktivity > Settings and uncheck "Automatically update documents." To temporarily disable automatic updates for a particular document, hold down the Option key when you open that document.

Merge duplicate transactions

To merge transactions from two different sources (for example, combining a Direct Access transaction with one that was posted from a scheduled transaction), simply drag and drop one transaction onto the other. The resulting merged transaction will contain the details of the latter transaction (onto which the former was dropped). To view the details of a transaction as they were originally imported prior to matching, import rule processing, and manual merging, double-click the transaction and click the 'i' button between the date and payee.

Review connection details or disable Direct Access

Accounts that have online access enabled (whether they are using Direct Access or direct download) show a status bar at the bottom of the account register with a colored circle: green indicates the account is online, and yellow indicates there is a connection problem. The date and time when the account was last updated is also displayed here.

Click the circle (or select the account and choose Account > Show Connection Status to review the account's online access information:

If there is a problem with the online connection, this screen will show details about the problem and how to resolve it. To refresh the connection to an online account, click "Refresh Account." If the account login details have changed, you will be prompted to enter them again.

To turn off Direct Access for an account, click "Options..." and from the window that appears, you can choose to disconnect the account.

The account will no longer be connected to an online institution and will need to be updated manually from that point forward. If you want to re-enable online access in the future, select the account and choose Account > Set Up Automatic Downloads.

Troubleshoot a connection

If a bank connection does not work as expected and you contact us for assistance, a support representative may ask you for a connection log to assist with troubleshooting. To obtain a connection log, choose Banktivity > Settings and check the box next to "Log OFX and Direct Access connections." Close the Settings window and try your download again; this time, the details of the connection attempt will be logged to a file on your Mac. In order to protect your privacy, Banktivity omits account numbers and passwords from the connection logs.

To view the log file, once again choose Banktivity > Settings. Click the gear-shaped action button and choose "Reveal in Finder." A window will open with one or two log files; double-click the one named "DA-activity.txt" to view the details of your recent Direct Access connections. If a support representative requests a copy of the log via email, simply drag & drop the log file into a new Mail message.

To delete the log files from your Mac, choose Banktivity > Settings, click the gear-shaped action button, and choose "Delete Log Files." Uncheck "Log OFX and Direct Access connections" to prevent Banktivity from creating new logs.

Remove bank connection details for all devices

Each time you set up a Direct Access connection, the connection details for that account are stored remotely with our secure service provider using your Banktivity ID. Disabling online access for an account does not remove the connection details from your Banktivity ID, because other Banktivity documents on your Mac or mobile devices may access the same connection. To remove the connection details from your Banktivity ID, choose File > Subscription > Direct Access, log in with your Banktivity ID if necessary. Find the name of the financial institution with the connection details you want to remove, then click the "Delete" button next to it. Banktivity will prompt you to confirm before removing the connection details. At that point, any other documents or devices that try to access the institution will fail until a new connection is set up.