Chext

September 19, 2011 3:34 PM

Chext is a site that enables the user to enter transactions and track their bank balance via SMS. People sharing a bank account can also get updates when money is spent from the account by the other person.

Unlike other alternatives, the site doesn't require users to upload their bank login info.

posted by reenum (30 comments total)

So it tells your spouse when you spend money? That is not a selling point.
posted by mecran01 at 3:36 PM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]

My god. A friend of mine was visiting from Korea a few weeks ago. He has this (or something similar) for his joint bank account with his wife. In the course of the evening we spent out, he got about a half dozen texts detailing his wife's spending. He was saying, "She just got a coffee!", "Lunch time!", etc. Of course, his wife could also see every single round he bought as he bought it.

Very weird.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:43 PM on September 19, 2011

So I can only that assume mobile banking (via mobile website or dedicated app) doesn't exist in the US?
posted by PenDevil at 3:45 PM on September 19, 2011

Nah, I get alerts via text and I can check my balance via text. My bank, Chase, has been flogging this for years.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:48 PM on September 19, 2011

We do have mobile banking in the States, but a lot of the features rely on the user having a smartphone. I have a basic phone, so mobile banking is a pain for me to access.
posted by reenum at 3:48 PM on September 19, 2011

So I can only that assume mobile banking (via mobile website or dedicated app) doesn't exist in the US?

It exists. I can deposit my checks by taking a picture of them with my droid, FFS.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 3:57 PM on September 19, 2011

OCSD (Obsessive Compulsive Sharing Disorder) is a real disease and not to be treated lightly.
posted by gilrain at 3:58 PM on September 19, 2011

I can deposit my checks by taking a picture of them with my droid, FFS

That's a joke, right?
posted by slimepuppy at 4:02 PM on September 19, 2011

No joke. Chase and USAA do it on the iPhone.
posted by infinitewindow at 4:04 PM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]

oh yeah, I can take pictures of checks too.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:16 PM on September 19, 2011

Yeah, the USAA deposit by photo thing blows my mind every time I use it. Still feels weird to shred the check afterward.
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:22 PM on September 19, 2011

So the next step in the evolution of personal banking is manual data entry?
posted by brain_drain at 4:24 PM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]

The next step in the evolution of personal banking is massive teams in India doing manual data entry instead of a teller at your local branch.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:32 PM on September 19, 2011

brain_drain appears to be talking about this service, not deposit-by-photo. There appears to be nothing automatic about it. Every time you make a purchase you are supposed to pay to send a text message to Chext telling them the amount and a title for the transaction. Then they can send out the same to your joint account holders, so they can potentially pay to receive the text message. But they won't find out about all transactions, only those you bother to type into your phone keyboard and send to them.

I don't predict that many people will be interested in this in its current form.
posted by grouse at 4:37 PM on September 19, 2011

Ahh, was stuck on the photo of a check thing.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:42 PM on September 19, 2011

I want a service that sends a text to my wife whenever she buys something. Maybe "Did you really need that?"
posted by perhapses at 4:47 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

At first glance, this seems like a more stripped-down version of Clearcheckbook. Clearcheckbook is also all manual entry, but it can handle multiple accounts, recurring transactions, etc.
posted by roll truck roll at 4:59 PM on September 19, 2011

Wow, what could possibly go wrong by broadcasting my banking info? I'm sure nobody would be interested when I make a large withdrawl at an ATM in an uncrowded area.
posted by DU at 5:38 PM on September 19, 2011

Wow, what could possibly go wrong by broadcasting my banking info? I'm sure nobody would be interested when I make a large withdrawl at an ATM in an uncrowded area.

Nobody's broadcasting anything. It's not like there's a twitter account that's announcing "DU JUST TOOK OUT LIKE FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS AND HE IS RIPE FOR THE MUGGING."
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:28 PM on September 19, 2011

It's pretty close to exactly that. Except you'd have to be deliberately looking for the messages to find them, as they won't appear on a website by default.
posted by DU at 6:40 PM on September 19, 2011

So, what's in it for Chext?

Seriously.
posted by mediareport at 6:54 PM on September 19, 2011

I mean, data mining, right? In case that wasn't clear.
posted by mediareport at 6:55 PM on September 19, 2011

Still feels weird to shred the check afterward.

Yes .. there's the practical matter of the checks meeting at some point in the future with the urge to kill one other, not to mention the philosophical issues surrounding which check gets possession of the soul.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:16 PM on September 19, 2011

Sending pictures of cheques through data messages sounds so surreal and anachronistic. It's like setting up a twitter feed for your carrier pigeon so you can keep track of it as it delivers your mail...

I never used a cheque in Finland in my entire life and I only used them in the UK for an old landlord who insisted on it. I have no idea what I would do now if someone insisted on receiving one.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:26 PM on September 19, 2011

User quote: “My favorite part is the awareness... of what's going on in the future.”

That's some app! I have a racing form to show it.
posted by Miko at 8:13 PM on September 19, 2011

Sending pictures of cheques through data messages sounds so surreal and anachronistic.

Unless your company stupidly refuses to use direct deposit. Mine did, and they also refused to answer questions as to why.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:10 AM on September 20, 2011

That's a joke, right?

Just you wait; in a few years, the US will innovate once again by allowing you to pay for things by *gasp* waving your card over a reader, and how NFC will revolutionize paying for things.
posted by fragmede at 10:01 AM on September 20, 2011

The U.S. has had NFC payment for years now.
posted by grouse at 10:05 AM on September 20, 2011

Unless your company stupidly refuses to use direct deposit. Mine did, and they also refused to answer questions as to why.

Try to imagine a world where there are no such things as "checks". There are only transfers. Pay "checks" aren't real. If you get a bill in the mail, you either have to pay it online with your bank, or go to an ATM and code in the details. That's how these things work in continental Europe.
posted by Goofyy at 10:25 AM on September 20, 2011

Or you go to the Post Office and buy a money order. Or don't they have those, either?
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:52 PM on September 21, 2011