Product updates

Connect to Coinbase

You can now connect your Coinbase account directly to Monarch on the web app (mobile is coming very soon). Click add account and Coinbase will be an option in the tiles of institutional logos you see. The connection is direct so its updated with real time prices every 2 minutes 24 hours a day.

In addition to seeing your account listed and included in your net worth there is also a new asset type called "Cryptocurrency" in the Investments section. All crypto coins will be classified as this new investment type across multiple accounts so you track all your crypto in one place even if you hold it in both traditional brokerages (ie Robinhood) as well as crypto brokerages (ie Coinbase).

We have future plans to add more crypto exchange support and other crypto specific features but would love to hear feedback on what crypto features you'd like to see next. Click the Feature Request link in the app to tell us more.

Account Organization

• Accounts can be marked as "inactive" which will stop them from syncing new transactions and set the balance to $0. Inactive accounts keep all of their historical balances and transactions up until they were marked inactive so you can preserve your history but hide them from active use.

• Accounts (and groups) can be now be manually sorted on the web. The order will be preserved across both the web and mobile app. Previously accounts were sorted by when they were added to Monarch with most recent at the top, and in a fixed grouping of assets and liabilities. With this update you can keep your favorite account right at the top.

Rules Improvements

• Rules can be built off the original statement transaction text (previously you could only use the cleaned up merchant name text).

• Rules can now be based on multiple categories, accounts or merchants instead of just 1 of each.

Fixes & Improvements

• The connection to Zillow has been upgraded and now supports more addresses.

• Bug fix - Clicking on a goal on the budget page now takes you to the details for that goal (the link didn't go anywhere previously).

• Bug fix - Manual accounts were showing an incorrect "last updated" date.

• Bug fix - The "Balance Adjustment" category incorrectly looked like it could be disabled so it's now more clear that it can't be. This category is used at a system level in manual accounts anytime the balance is changed since the balance is a sum of all transactions in the account.

What's Next

• Rollovers - we're continuing the work on rollovers and should have something released soon!

• CSV Import - we're also building out a CSV import capability which will work for importing all your data from Mint. Or it can be used to to upload monthly statements to an individual account if your bank doesn't support syncing or you prefer to manage the data manually.

• Tags - over the next few weeks we'll be releasing a tags capability to create tags, apply them to transactions and filter cash flow or reports using them.

New layout for the Plan section

Design improvements to the Plan section now make it easier to budget and forecast your money.

• The "left to budget or save" number was moved from the bottom of the summary to the top of the page where its more prominently colored - green if you have income left to budget or save, grey if your budget is perfectly balanced, or red if you have more expenses than income planned.

• The toggle to switch between the budget and forecast view is now more prominently centered at the top of the page on the website.

• On the mobile apps you can now tap the "remaining" column to switch the numbers between "actuals" or "remaining" alongside the "planned" amounts.

• On the website, when hovering over a category in your Plan a gear icon will appear which will let you change the icon & name or which group that category is a part of without having to leave the Plan section.

iPad App

Version 1.0.47 of the iOS app released last week makes it a universal app which means the interface will natively support the iPad now. Previously you could run the iPhone app on an iPad but it ran as an iPhone app so it didn't take advantage of the larger screen and could not be rotated horizontally to portrait mode. We plan to add more iPad optimization to take advantage of all the extra space but this should be a big improvement for anyone looking to run the iOS app on an iPad.

Fixes and improvements 

• New navigation on the mobile apps puts transactions in the middle of the main navigation and a new menu option lets you get to all the sections of Monarch

• On web, there is a new dashboard card showing your prioritized advice items

• You can now convert a manual real estate account into a synced account using Zillow in the mobile app (was previously only on the website)

• On web, clicking into a "planned" amount in the Plan section the graph showing the average amount will exclude the current month which should make the averages more accurate

• The new Data section launched on the website last month is now available in the mobile app for setting a start date for all balances or transactions

• When signing in with a Google account your profile picture in Monarch will automatically populate with your Google profile photo

• If you first signed up for Monarch using your Apple or Google account you can now disconnect them and set a password to make your Monarch account independent

What's Next

• Cryptocurrency - Our first connection for syncing crypto accounts will be Coinbase and it will also support any existing accounts that are already synced with Monarch and holding crypto (like Robinhood).

• Rollovers - both historical remaining budgets and saving for non-monthly large expenses.

• We're starting to scope out work on a CSV import capability that will let you take history from Mint (or anywhere else) and bring it over to Monarch.

Advice

There is a whole new section in Monarch (web only for now) called Advice.  We've always felt that advice is a missing part of most personal finance apps so we're excited to offer this new type of feature. You can answer a few questions to start getting recommended advice and we plan to add more advice over time. Read more about our thoughts on financial advice on our blog.

Keep track of your home value automatically

You can now track the value of any property you have using Zillow. You can even convert an existing property you have in Monarch to a synced account and the value will be updated each month. Converting an existing property is live on web, and included in the next version of the mobile apps.

Start Date for Transactions and Balances

When connecting your accounts to Monarch for the first time your account may only provide transactions back for the past 1 month or up to 2 years. This can make it difficult if you have a ton of uncategorized transactions or want a good clean start date where everything is accurate going forward. This new settings page called Data allows you to set a start date for both transactions and account balances so you can get off to a fresh start.

Investments leaves beta

Back in May we launched a beta section for Investments and after getting more feedback we've made a series of changes to make it even better:

• The date picker now lets you go back much further in time, up to 3 years, so you can track your investments over the long term

• The Nasdaq benchmark card was swapped for US Bonds so there is a wider variety for comparing your holdings against the overall market (S&P500), US Stocks, or US Bonds

• The table showing holdings has been simplified to show the change over time, quantity, current price and total value

We have lots of future plans for making investments even better by adding features like asset allocation, time and money-weighted rates of return, fee analysis, and general portfolio risk vs reward (the efficient frontier)!

Other improvements

1. The mobile app now has many of the transaction filters that were only on web before (filter by amount, date range, hidden, splits, notes, attachments and merchants).

2. On web, we added a new dropdown menu on transactions so you can sort by amount (vs just date).

3. Transaction rules can now hide transactions. Hidden transactions are hidden from your Plan and Cash Flow calculations but still show on the Transactions page.

4. Fixed an issue in the mobile app where hidden accounts were being included in the account type sums. For example, if you had a hidden loan account, then the amount of the hidden loan would still be included in the sum of all your loans on the page. Note that this issue didn’t impact net worth calculations.

5. You can now invite household members using the mobile app (previously was web only).

6. Hidden accounts are now collapsed on the Accounts page.

7. Our customer success team can now provide links to other data providers if you have connection issues with your accounts.

What's Next

• We've started to build a solution to allow categories to rollover the remaining budget amounts. This should allow you to save for non-monthly expenses, large purchases like vacations, annual budgeting or just carry a remainder forward if you over or under spend a budget category.

• We're putting the finishing touches on the ability to mark an account as "closed" or inactive which will allow you to hide it from the accounts view and stop syncing new transactions but retain all transactions and history.

Planning updates

Your plan allows you to track income, spending, savings, and goals together. Now we’ve made it even easier to see your past cash flow and your future plans in one view across months and years.

Changes you’ll notice:

• New easier to use view of all months and years on the Forecast tab

• View multiple months or multiple years together

• View your expected monthly and annual savings based on your plan

• Edit multiple months at a time, including adding in one off expenses, without leaving the page

We’re more than half way through 2021, ready to start dialing in your plan for next year? 

Sign in with Apple and Google

Connect your Monarch account to your Apple ID or Google Account to simplify how you sign in to Monarch.

Bulk edit transactions in the mobile app

A highly requested feature, bulk editing transactions is now available in our mobile apps! You can select multiple transactions at once and edit them in one place. You can even hide multiple transactions straight from the Transactions page.

Other Improvements

1. On the Investment Holdings page, we updated the time range shortcuts on the Investments pages to This Month, This Year, Last 3 Years.

2. We added a new weekly push notification to remind you to review your monthly progress. You can manage all your notifications from the Notification Settings page.

3. We fixed an issue where transaction notes were missing from the CSV when you exported transactions.

Review your month so far

Research shows frequently checking in with your finances helps you stay in control. So, we’ve added a new monthly progress feature that gives you a quick way to see where you are in the month across your cash flow, plan, and net worth.

You can also view past months to see how you did at the end of the month.

Bulk edit transactions

A highly requested feature we've built bulk editing transactions, available first on the web, you can select multiple transactions at once and edit them in one place. You can even hide multiple transactions straight from the Transactions page.

Other Improvements

1. On the Investments Performance page, we made the headers sortable so you can sort your holdings however you like.

2. On the web, we added a new Investments dashboard widget. Like all widgets, this can be rearranged on the page or hidden completely.

3. We added a new push notification for when a new Apple Card statement is ready for import.

Investments (beta) live!

We’re happy to announce that our investments feature is now live on Monarch!

 Robust investment analysis has understandably been one of our most requested features. We’ve been working hard on this and are excited to finally share it with you.

 Our investments feature allows you to:

• Analyze your entire portfolio across multiple financial institutions and accounts

• Understand your asset allocation across your entire portfolio (including across financial institutions and accounts)

• See how your entire portfolio is performing against common industry indexes

• Evaluate investment performance and returns at an institution, account, and holdings level.

• Much more!

Finally, we will be rolling out a number of improvements to our investments feature over time (including Crypto support!) so it’s only going to get better.

While we’re in beta, let us know if your investment information looks right and share feedback on what would make the feature better. The info you send will go straight to our product team so that we can immediately make improvements.

Spending by Merchant

Now, you can visualize your spending at each merchant per week/month/year the same way you can for a spending category.

Other Improvements

• Improved net worth chart on mobile. Now you can easily see your broken down by types of assets and liabilities in the mobile app. Live on Android, and included in the next version of iOS.

• Fixed a bug in the mobile app where we were incorrectly showing zero dollars remaining in a category as over budget with a red indicator. Live on Android, and included in the next version of iOS.

• Fixed a bug with the CSV download where transactions were not sorted correctly.

Here's what we added to Monarch in April. Remember, we're building Monarch for you. You can always suggest or vote for features here. Please keep the suggestions coming!

Apple Card import

Good news Apple Card users! You can now import your monthly Apple Card statements to Monarch.

 No need to manually update your balance or transactions anymore. By importing your statement we'll add in all your transactions and automatically apply your rules. Note Apple Card import is only available within the iOS mobile app, see all the details in our Help Center.

Improved net worth chart and sparklines

You can now easily see your net worth broken down by types of assets and liabilities.

We've also added sparklines to the accounts page so you can see at glance how the balance of each account has changed over time.

Guest Passes

Guest passes let you give away a free month of Monarch to your friends so start sharing now! They'll gain financial peace of mind, and when you share with 20 friends you'll get a special gift! 🎁

This is an exclusive feature only available to our paid members. 🙌 Find your Guest Passes on the web by clicking on your name, or in the mobile app by tapping on the user icon on the dashboard. See all the details about how guest passes work in our Help Center.

Other Improvements

• Digest Notifications. Now, when your bank account syncs, you'll receive a single notification with all the recent updates to your account instead of multiple notifications at once.

• Wells Fargo MFA accounts are now supported! Add your account now.

• Transaction notes are now searchable in the mobile app.

P.S. Love using Monarch? Help us out by reviewing us in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

Another month of Monarch improvements, thanks to your feedback! Please keep suggesting and voting for features here. Keep the suggestions coming, we're building Monarch for you!

Customizable dashboard

Choose how you want to view your information in Monarch. You can rearrange the widgets on web and mobile and even hide them completely. Web and mobile dashboards can be customized independently, so you can set the viewing experience you need.

Manual transactions

Add any transaction to Monarch! This allows you to track valuables, bank accounts that won't sync, or simply to track cash-on-hand. Note, manual transactions are only available in manual accounts.

Manage categories on mobile

Now you can add / edit / delete your categories and groups directly from the mobile app the same way you do on web.

Split transactions on mobile

Organize your transactions in the moment by splitting them into multiple categories on the transaction's information tab. This is great for purchases at stores like Target, where you may buy a bunch of stuff that needs to be categorized separately.

Other Improvements

• Added Account Disconnected notifications to the Notification Center.

• Added an icon to the mobile transaction list for transactions with notes

• Planned goal contributions on mobile now support cents

• Fixed a bug where tapping on a planned amount in the mobile app didn't select the entire amount ie your cursor might end up between the 1 and the 2 if the amount was 12.

• Fixed a bug where attachments on pending transactions were being incorrectly removed

• Fixed a bug where the cash flow page on mobile was incorrect if you had future transactions

Capital One and Charles Schwab

It's here! Capital One and Charles Schwab now work with Monarch. Connect your accounts now. Find more details in our Help Center.

Attach receipts to transactions

You can now add attachments to transactions on web and mobile for quick access to details. Use notes and attachments together to stay organized.

Other improvements

• The original transaction date is now visible on web and mobile. If you edit the date of a transaction, now you can still see the original transaction date from your bank.

• Bug fixes and performance improvements

Introducing Monarch for Android

Thanks for your patience Android users! We're happy to announce that the wait is over and you can now install the Monarch Android App from the Google Play Store. Our Android app has the same functionality as our iOS app. Download it now and let us know what you think!

Transaction rules come to mobile

Transaction Rules are "If, Then" statements that apply to your past and future transactions so that you can customize their categorization. They were previously only available in our web app, but now we've added them to our mobile apps as well. Learn more about transaction rules here!

Transaction notes

You can now add Transaction Notes to help you remember the specifics of any transaction.

 Pro tip: You can add hashtags to the transaction notes field and then later find all tagged transactions using the search functionality. Some common examples are #reimbursable, #business_expense, or #donation.

Thanks for being an early Monarch supporter. You can keep an eye on what's coming next and vote for your favorites here.

Here's what we added to Monarch recently. Remember, we're building Monarch for you, you can always suggest or vote for features here. Please keep the suggestions coming!

Force refresh your bank accounts

We aim to update account balances and transactions at least every 24 hours. However, sometimes there may be a delay with a particular financial institution, or you want to see whether a recent transaction has cleared your account.

Well, good news! Now you can manually force a refresh for a particular financial institution. In our web app, simply view your account details page and click on the refresh icon. In our mobile app, visit the account details screen and pull down to initiate a refresh.

Learn more here: Force refresh your bank accounts

Multi-factor authentication

Now you can add another layer of security to your Monarch account by turning on multi-factor-authentication. To enable MFA, navigate to the Security under settings. Click "Enable MFA" and follow the prompts, and you'll be good to go!

Learn more here: Multi Factor Authentication 

Credit card payments now treated as transfers

For new users, credit card payments will now automatically be treated as a transfer and included in the "Transfers" category group. This change will not apply to existing customers as we don't want to modify anybody's category taxonomy they may have already customized.

That said, if you're an existing customer you can easily modify this yourself so that your account behaves the same way. Simply go to the Manage Categories page, click on the Credit Card Payment category and choose Transfers in the Group menu. You can always customize your categories from this page.

Other improvements

• We added more information about the connection status of an institution for disconnected accounts

• We fixed a bug where cents were being ignored in Transaction Rules. For example, you can now properly create a rule to find all your transactions for $2.99 and categorize them.

• We fixed a bug where it was possible to delete the Uncategorized category.

• We fixed a bug where Goal contribution amounts were showing up incorrectly on the Forecast page.

• We made some styling updates to the Forecast page (more coming soon!) to make it easier to read.

We have a lot planned for next year, thanks for being an early Monarch supporter. You can keep an eye on what's coming next and vote for your favorites here.

Now available in the iOS App Store

Big news! Monarch is now available on iOS. We've retired our old TestFlight app and published our newest version in the App Store. Download it now.

Set goals to see your progress each month

Let us do the math of how much you need to save to reach your goal. Contribute to your goals as your savings grow across your accounts. We'll adjust your plan as you go to help you stay on track. Learn more with with this help article.

Make a plan to see how your finances change over time

Forecast your income, expenses and savings forward in the same view as your past actuals. See how cash flow changes over time as you add in expected income, expenses and goal contributions. Learn more with this help article.