Acknowledgement of v3 mess + action plan
complete
When I updated to v3, the app became unusable since most basic functionality broke - and judging by the message boards, I was far from the only one. At time of writing, basic sync / 2FA for Discover still doesn’t work, and it’s still 50/50 if I have to reverify Amex and Visa on any given login.
Can you guys please at least acknowledge this launch was a disaster and put out some kind of statement outlining that you’re aware of the most severe bugs + the general plan and/or timeline to fix them? At this point it makes no sense to renew my membership, and I can’t in good conscience recommend the app to anyone.
(And the level of screw up here rly doesn’t inspire confidence in MaxRewards’ ability to handle sensitive financial data day to day, let alone in a cyberattack or another emergency…)
M
Morgan Bowling
under review
Why did we release MaxRewards v3 to everyone now?
For all of 2023, we've been hard at work on MaxRewards v3, addressing issues from v2 like app unresponsiveness. MaxRewards v3 has a better architecture for faster development, and we wanted to bring its benefits to more people, sooner. We launched v3 knowing there might be bugs, and at the time, there were some features that required additional polishing before being released. Since launching v3, we have closely monitored feedback and responded quickly.
When will missing v2 features be available on v3?
Over the coming weeks and months, we will add missing v2 features in v3. Already, we've added back bonus trackers (with additional features that weren't in v2), referral pages, more details within the Activity Tab, and much more. Other features will be prioritized based on member feedback.
What are we doing to make account syncing more reliable?
We know account syncing is our #1 challenge. As many of you know, we build our own connectors. This allows us to pull more data, like rewards and benefits usage, and offer exclusive functionality, like offers and bonus tracker activation. No other connector, including Plaid, Yodlee, or MX, offers the same data and functionality we have with ours. However, maintaining our connectors is incredibly difficult, and compounded further by the fact we're a small team. However, that's not an excuse for us. We're in this business because we can solve difficult problems. In the past 30 days, we've processed over 437K successful syncs. Here's our plan to improve account syncing over the short and medium term:
Short-Term (Next 6 Months):
We are making more front-end and back-end improvements to account syncing over the next several weeks. This will improve the general experience of syncing. We recently signed a partnership with Visa to support thousands of other banks. Like Plaid, Visa's connections do
not
get rewards, offers, benefits, credit scores, etc. However, they will pull transactions and help us support thousands of financial institutions.We will focus exclusively on maintaining connections for bigger banks, like Amex and Capital One. This will help us concentrate our efforts on the banks with the highest impact, while also providing transactional coverage for virtually all banks.
We are hiring a new senior software engineer who will focus solely on bank connections.
Medium-Term (6+ Months):
Later next year, we plan on raising additional capital to help us greatly expand the bank connector team. This will help us build redundant methods for every major bank, while also supporting more banks. We monitor forums for every major financial management app, and syncing is a problem for everyone. There isn't a great universal solution out in the market, but we believe we are on a path to creating the best solution.
M
Morgan Bowling
complete
We have made significant improvements to our v3 app since release. Already, we have an expanded option of bonus trackers, completely reworked bank connections (we're not seeing good syncing results with Chase!), faster performance on Best Card, and a new Rewards Earned Gold feature.
If you're still having trouble with the v3 app, feel free to reach out to us at support@maxrewards.com
C
Charles Markham
Morgan Bowling: Funny typo. I am sure you meant: "we're NOW seeing good results with Chase"
M
Morgan Bowling
under review
Why did we release MaxRewards v3 to everyone now?
For all of 2023, we've been hard at work on MaxRewards v3, addressing issues from v2 like app unresponsiveness. MaxRewards v3 has a better architecture for faster development, and we wanted to bring its benefits to more people, sooner. We launched v3 knowing there might be bugs, and at the time, there were some features that required additional polishing before being released. Since launching v3, we have closely monitored feedback and responded quickly.
When will missing v2 features be available on v3?
Over the coming weeks and months, we will add missing v2 features in v3. Already, we've added back bonus trackers (with additional features that weren't in v2), referral pages, more details within the Activity Tab, and much more. Other features will be prioritized based on member feedback.
What are we doing to make account syncing more reliable?
We know account syncing is our #1 challenge. As many of you know, we build our own connectors. This allows us to pull more data, like rewards and benefits usage, and offer exclusive functionality, like offers and bonus tracker activation. No other connector, including Plaid, Yodlee, or MX, offers the same data and functionality we have with ours. However, maintaining our connectors is incredibly difficult, and compounded further by the fact we're a small team. However, that's not an excuse for us. We're in this business because we can solve difficult problems. In the past 30 days, we've processed over 437K successful syncs. Here's our plan to improve account syncing over the short and medium term:
Short-Term (Next 6 Months):
We are making more front-end and back-end improvements to account syncing over the next several weeks. This will improve the general experience of syncing. We recently signed a partnership with Visa to support thousands of other banks. Like Plaid, Visa's connections do
not
get rewards, offers, benefits, credit scores, etc. However, they will pull transactions and help us support thousands of financial institutions.We will focus exclusively on maintaining connections for bigger banks, like Amex and Capital One. This will help us concentrate our efforts on the banks with the highest impact, while also providing transactional coverage for virtually all banks.
We are hiring a new senior software engineer who will focus solely on bank connections.
Medium-Term (6+ Months):
Later next year, we plan on raising additional capital to help us greatly expand the bank connector team. This will help us build redundant methods for every major bank, while also supporting more banks. We monitor forums for every major financial management app, and syncing is a problem for everyone. There isn't a great universal solution out in the market, but we believe we are on a path to creating the best solution.
R
Rob B
—Given the LinkedIn job listing for a Full Stack/Senior Software Engineer, I’m starting to see the challenges going behind the scenes. Seems like they started fresh with v3 and left out a bunch of features. Patiently waiting I guess.
M
Morgan Bowling
Rob B: Yes, we are looking to expand the team and a senior software engineer who is well suited to working on our bank connections will be critical. Please feel free to share the job posting with anyone who you feel could be a good fit.
S
Scott Perkins
All great points especially your final parenthetical one!