Mint Import - Transaction Description Issues
I just imported all of my transactions from the CSVs Mint exported. I didn't modify them at all. Examples of weird description changes:
"Venmo Cashout" to "Ve Cash ##out"
Something to "##rb" (So messed up idk the original)
"DFAS Navy Act" to "D ##fa ##s Navy Act"
"Pershing Brokerage" to "Per ##shing Broker ##age"
"Transamerica" to "Trans ##ame ##rica"
"Venmo" to "Ve"
"Verizon" to "Verizon * * * * * * * * * * * 0001 Ach Withdrawal"
The list goes on for HUNDREDS of transactions. For some it seems to take the original description column data for others it seems to take the description column data and then I can't make sense of the random #s and shortening/deleting of characters.
This doesn't make sense, the import process should not have this many bugs and if it's not fixed shortly I'll simply go with another company instead of Simplifi. I'd say a work around would be to go through and make rules to batch modify them but the random characters and deletions make it too difficult to find key words that are workable and the rules capability is not capable enough to allow me to filter on things other than the description (amount, account, etc.)
Comments
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As I'm going through today and cleaning up categories following my import, before I try to manually fix the transaction descriptions I've come across another glaring issue. Categories that were built-in to Mint as well as self-created ones didn't get kept on my transactions.
Example 1: A built-in category in Mint, "Movies & DVDs" which I know I had multiple transactions for was not carried over. Those transactions were recategorized without me knowing as "Entertainment". That's a problem because in Mint, "Movies & DVDs" was a subcategory under the "Entertainment" category, so I had different transactions categorized as each. In Simplifi, there were no subcategories for Entertainment by default.
Example 2: I had a self-created subcategory in Mint for "Lawn & Garden". This category did not get imported into Simplifi anywhere, including under the Mint category Simplifi created. Those transactions were instead reassigned "Home Services", again without my input.
The import process needs to be fixed. At the very least, transparency needs to be added so we who are migrating know what is being changed. Even if you haven't developed the process enough to allow us to make decisions, at least give us a change log or something so we know what is changed vice stumbling across it as we're getting organized - that makes us question the validity of the product as a whole; what else may have been changed without us realizing? Can we trust the accuracy of the data being displayed to us? Right now, the import process doesn't do what it claims…
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@jordan2819, thanks for reaching out!
Our support article here has the steps that must be followed for importing transactions from Mint to ensure a smooth import process:
I'd also suggest checking out this thread for more insight on the Category imports from Mint:
With that, you might consider starting over or creating a dummy test account to see if you can get better imports. Additionally, you might consider creating Transactions Rules for some of the items in question to see if that helps with your imports:
Please let us know how it goes!
-Coach Natalie
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I originally followed the Import Transactions instructions you posted and what I described above is what happened…
Your article about categorizing does not help in my case, 1) No mint category was kept 2) The category (Movies & DVDs or Lawn & Garden) did not already exist but was also not created under the Mint Group. Instead, your product recategorized the transactions to a completely DIFFERENT category of a DIFFERENT name without my input.
I've tried the import a couple of times. As I explained, Simplifi's limited capability of transaction rules makes it not possible in my case because of the extraneous characters.
It doesn't seem like you took the time to read and ACTUALLY understand the issues I'm describing… I get that your entire team is extremely busy with the Mint migration deluge but I'd rather have no reply at all than a useless response that avoids acknowledging significant issues with Simplifi's importing tool and recommends I try the same process over yet again expecting different results and wasting my time.
Instead, your ineffectual support has confirmed that I will not use Simplifi and will instead go with a better competitor. I really wanted to like Simplifi… maybe a year from now the product and support will be better and I'll reconsider, but right now there are simply way too many issues/bugs, and not enough functionality and support.
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@jordan2819 Identical issue. My "Lawn & Garden" category didn't come over in my imports, and I also have the "Home Services" category.
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One commonality I see in those categories (Lawn & Garden, Movies & DVDs) is that they have an ampersand in them, and I wonder if that's a reserved character either in the category names, or in the import process (?).
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Rob Wilkens0 -
@RobWilk @jordan2819 I'm like 95% THIS is the issue, or one issue. Rules firing on big box retailers, which are still firing during the import process.
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I imported some mint transactions back on December 4. The transactions that did not come over at all were the ones with tags with commas in them - example Vacation,Dining Out. The program got confused as it thought the comma separated tags added a column.
For the categories with &, etc. I created categories in Simplifi first to match Mint and those transactions came in for me with no issues. I deleted the tags I had in Mint that had spaces or commas and then re-tagged transactions in Simplifi.
I imported a small transaction batch, just 2022 and 2023 through September. The bank gave me the rest of transactions.
Simplifi User Since Nov 2023
Minter 2014-2023
Questionable Excel before 2014 to present
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