My bank (Chase, TX) charges me a $10/mo analysis fee to automatically integrate the data from my checking and savings accounts into MS Money, which I use to track my spending.

I realize that I could just download the information in a file for free and import it myself, but I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible -- and having Money pop up alerts and otherwise yell at me when things come in or go out has proven to be a 'necessary feature' for me.

Does anyone know of a bank that offers this service for free? I'd rather not have to pay all the fees that Chase charges.

Thanks!

I don't know of a specific bank, but I'll make an argument for entering the data in manually from your statement (paper or otherwise): It forces you to read your statement in detail and increases the likelihood of identifying an erroneous/fraudulent charge. It may seem like a lot of work, but I really only spend about an hour a month for 2 credit cards, 2 checking accounts, 2 IRAs, and one savings account. I also think it feeds my subconscious with a subliminal reminder of how much I'm spending each month. When I see several charges for dining out, for example, it makes me want to pull up a spending report and verify that the trend isn't headed up too steeply.

I do a combination. I enter bank stuff by hand, and download qif files for credit card statements. I then run the qif files through QIF Master to categorize the transactions, and this prompts me everytime it sees a vendor that it hasn't seen before. Presumably, this should be good enough for detecting outright fraudulent charges, although I guess I'm still exposed to errors/fraud in the form of inaccurate charge amounts (but I do usually at least visually scan the statements for things that look strange). I then import the qif into Quicken.

I use Chase and don't pay to access the data. I'm not sure if it's due to the type of account or a legacy thing from Bank One. I've got the basic checking account with direct deposit, and the online banking is free. Perhaps you can explore other options at Chase.