Show HN: Lannister – open-source wealth manager app

by andresousa • 7 years ago

102 58 7 years ago

Slick promotional website but not a single privacy disclosure or terms of service for an app that gathers financial data?

This is not something you push out after the MVP has shipped.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

All the info is stored either on the device itself or synced via Blockstack if you wish to do so. The project is also entirely open-source - https://github.com/lannister-capital

diego• 7 years ago

I understand your intention, but you have a bit of an uphill battle. Users have to trust you on many levels:

1) The app running on your phone is powered by the software on github.

2) This will not change.

The only way I would use an app like this would be if it were offered by a financial institution that holds my assets. If your app caused me to lose money, I would be SOL. If their's did, they would be required to answer for it.

IloveHN84• 7 years ago

Can I host this on my own system?

andresousa13• 7 years ago

You can clone the project (https://github.com/lannister-capital/lannister-ios) and run the app on your device. We're working on a web version now, which is still WIP, but is also open-source (https://github.com/lannister-capital/lannister-app).

chosenbreed37• 7 years ago

Great idea an iphone. I might have a look at it on my daughter's iPod if she allows me to install :)

Or I'll just wait for the web version!

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Thank you! We also have a public roadmap here: https://github.com/orgs/lannister-capital/projects/1 any suggestions or ideas for future development are very welcome!

idlewords• 7 years ago

This can pivot to an app for dating your sister

RosanaAnaDana• 7 years ago

Low effort slow clap

mNovak• 7 years ago

To clarify, does this automatically fetch updated crypto/stock/etc prices so that I can see my exposure changing over time, or do I have to manually update the amount of money in each holding?

kayza• 7 years ago

As far as I could see there is no way to add certain stocks/crypto/funds etc. basically just a slightly better spreadsheet, you have to enter all by yourself. That’s a pitty, I would like to have one where I just enter which stock I bought and when and it shows me the win/loss over time.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

We're supporting 2 crypto (BTC and ETH) and 12 fiat currencies at the moment. And their prices get updated every time you open the app. If you have created several currencies, you'll see the total balance of your portfolio get updated. Today is a very good day to observe it growing if you have BTC or ETH :) Regarding stocks and other funds, we're not supporting them yet, but it's certainly on our roadmap.

rohmanhakim• 7 years ago

Will this app helps me to always pay my debt?

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Lannister always pays its debts. Unfortunately, not yours :) In any case, we have on our roadmap some features such as setting financial goals and financial advice. We have a public roadmap here: https://github.com/orgs/lannister-capital/projects/1 any feedback is highly appreciated

slg3• 7 years ago

Game of Thrones spoiler ahead:

I am not wild about that name. The Lannisters are the bad guys throughout the run of the GoT story and by later seasons it is revealed that their wealth has mostly wasted away. They are only able to keep up appearances of wealth through taking on large amounts of debt and by looting their enemies. Yes, the single primary characteristic you would assign to the Lannisters is wealth. I am just not sure that is worth associating your product with all their secondary traits like deceit, fraud, selfishness, and ruthlessness.

edaemon• 7 years ago

I would also be worried about trademark/copyright issues.

slg3• 7 years ago

I don't know enough about those laws to know the legal status of this, but that would definitely be a concern for me too. Also the lion iconography rules out any argument that the name isn't 100% GoT inspired.

chabes2• 7 years ago

Copyright is for non-commercial use, IIRC. If you’re not selling anything, it doesn’t apply. Not sure if that’s the case here.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

I understand your point. Our goal was to name it after a person, like "Alfred" the productivity app for Mac (https://www.alfredapp.com), but we found that Lannister would be more appropriate as a reference to wealth management. Hope it does not lead you into thinking about the secondary traits.

slg3• 7 years ago

Maybe it is just the ages of the references, but I think "Alfred" is a more general name that is less associated with the character. But more importantly he doesn't have the negative secondary traits associated with him that completely conflict with how you want people to think of your app. Using Lannister for a wealth management app is almost like naming your nutrition management app after a character with an eating disorder.

anoncake• 7 years ago

What about Mana Musa?

deathtrader666• 7 years ago

Maybe the "Iron Bank" or "Master of Coin" would be more appropriate than this..

ng12• 7 years ago

Obviously it's so you don't end up like the Lannisters, broke and indebted to the Iron Bank :)

_1tan2• 7 years ago

Interesting. I personally use https://outbankapp.com/en/.

The app is closed-source; everything is locally stored.

It allows me to track my bank accounts, including portfolios, etc. from most German and Dutch banks, credit cards, etc..

Additionally it can track BTC, ETH wallets, connect to Coinbase and a few other exchanges and membership programs.

I would never use a wealth management app requiring manual entry. That`s just slightly better than a spreadsheet. Keep up the work!

Caveat: Only supported in Germany and the Netherlands at the moment (IIRK).

Edit: A similar offering I just remembered: https://www.numbrs.com/en_uk/. Might be some good inspiration as well.

throwaway4132• 7 years ago

Looks nice. How does this app authenticate with your various financial accounts?

_1tan2• 7 years ago

It stores your credentials locally. The whole situation should improve with PSD2 (EU perspective).

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Thanks for the support. Outbank looks like a great app. With Lannister we would like to make sure that the data is not available to a third party by focusing on security and making the code auditable by anyone. This leads to less features or integrations being supported but it also provides a more secure environment. Nevertheless we will work hard to add more features that make managing your personal finance and wealth easier.

toomuchtodo• 7 years ago

I wish we had apps like this for the US market; unfortunately we’re stuck with Personal Capital and Credit Karma.

fhrow4484• 7 years ago

Another caveat of that app, even though the website hides it pretty far in the T&C, is that it appears to be owned by "Verivox GmbH" : https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verivox

Translated to English the Wikipedia page says: "Verivox is a company that compares tariffs for telecom, electricity, gas, insurance, finance, vehicles, and commission-free real estate and brokers contracts for these services"

So they're using consumers to do their jobs, which probably harms consumers in long run by preventing a healthy competition amongst those services.

youeseh• 7 years ago

I think it's a great name! It is recognizable and well-associated with what you're building, even if the name-story accuracy isn't 100% - I think that would be serious nitpicking and you can always rename it something else later when the cost / benefit makes sense.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Thank you so much, we also believe that is the best approach. I wouldn't describe the context of naming the product and why we did it better than you just did :)

quickthrower22• 7 years ago

I'd have called it Iron Bank.

conjectures• 7 years ago

Yeah +1 that this becomes more of a thing based on name alone.

You might need to explicitly state in company policy that:

- Crossbows not allowed at board meetings.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Yes, and we won't have armchairs!

idbentley2• 7 years ago

I don't see any information about the source code... No mention of Open source on the website.

andresousa13• 7 years ago

We have it at the bottom of the page, but I agree that it's not very visible. We'll add it at the top of the page. Thanks for your feedback! Appreciate it!

idbentley2• 7 years ago

Thanks!

andresousa13• 7 years ago

Thank you for all the feedback and support. If you'd like to continue the discussion and helping with development join us on Discord at https://discordapp.com/invite/6SrsfUf.

Lannister is completely open-source and the code is available at https://github.com/lannister-capital

mettamage• 7 years ago

I wonder if this is allowed regarding copyright.

If it isn't, I'd suggest a GoT metaphore that is slightly less obvious (but still obvious). E.g. Golden Lion or My Golden Lion.

ptyyy• 7 years ago

Let me lead off by saying I'm not a lawyer, but "House Lannister" is trademarked[0]. I would not be surprised if you receive a C&D notice.

[0] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87704402&caseType=SERIAL_...

unixhero2• 7 years ago

Umm I am not sure if I am missing something, but where is the self hosted or source code I can compile for myself?

andresousa13• 7 years ago

The iOS project is here: https://github.com/lannister-capital/lannister-ios

rambojazz• 7 years ago

There seems to be a github link at the bottom of the page.

unixhero2• 7 years ago

I couldn't see it from Chrome on my Android Galaxy S10+. Thanks!

dnadler• 7 years ago

I've thought about building something similar to this for the US, but getting the data into the app is a difficult problem. What is the general opinion on using a device like Plaid?

Alternatively, I could support manual import of statements, but that would dramatically reduce the number of institutions that I could support.

JetSpiegel• 7 years ago

What's the main difference between this and GnuCash?

Show HN: Lannister – open-source wealth manager app

Related Stories