In-App Offer Syncing

CardPointers 8 adds one of the most significant features yet: automated in-app offer syncing across the 6 largest banks (Amex, Chase, BofA, Citi, US Bank, Wells Fargo). Like everything built in CardPointers, it's built to be private and secure first. Here's how it does that:

1. If you want to automate offer syncing fully, you can choose to store your logins in the app, where the username and password for each account you sync will be stored in your local Keychain, where Apple stores sensitive data. Those credentials are only used to log in directly to the bank websites that you use in a local process, they are never sent and stored on a remote server, so that way there is no risk of your credentials ever being compromised. No sensitive data like account balances, credit card numbers, etc are accessed in any way.

   
   

2. You can choose at any time to stop storing your credentials in the app by turning off the toggle in each offer sync account screen in the app, and they will be removed immediately from your device.

   
   

3. In-app offer syncing is optional; if you prefer to use the extension (Safari, Chrome, Firefox) to auto-add and sync your offers, you can absolutely do that instead. But automatically adding your offers while you sleep is pretty magical and will help you save even more.

   
   
4. You can also choose to not store your credentials on-device, and still use in-app offer syncing by manually logging into the bank websites when you manually trigger an offer sync.

Automatic Syncing

By default, your offers will automatically sync overnight while you sleep; it will sync offers every 3 days, or every night, once per week, or only manually, all configurable at the top of the Offer Sync screen.

Automatic syncing tries to run at the requested time, but your device ultimately determines when it will run based on battery level, if your device is plugged in, and system resources. For best results, set the time to run while you expect to have the phone charging and not in use.

Pro tip: If you manually start syncing all accounts or individual ones in the app, you don't need to leave the app in the foreground, you can switch to another app or lock the screen and it will continue to sync in the background, keeping you up to date with a Live Activity (the same system that Netflix uses to download movies after you background the app — it's super slick if I do say so myself!)

Pro Tip #2: When first adding an account to the Offer Sync system, you'll want to check the "Remember Me" checkbox which will help ensure that offers can be added during automated runs.

Banks with 2FA

Most banks only require you to authenticate with a 2FA code once when you first connect your account, but there are a few banks in particular with some peculiarities.

Amex 2FA

You'll want to make sure you clicked the "Remember Me" option when logging in, which will add the Offer Sync browser to the list here: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/account/two-step-verification/manage-devices. Without that managed device, it will require you to re-enter your 2FA code every login which would prevent the unattended offer syncing from working.

Chase 2FA

By default, Chase will require 2FA every time you log in, even when you've already logged in before. If you disable the first toggle here in Chase's settings, it will still require 2FA for logins to any new browser, but won't require it for subsequent logins on that browser. To enable unattended Chase syncs, you'll want to turn that off via https://secure.chase.com/web/auth/dashboard#/dashboard/credentials/twoFactorAuthentication:

US Bank 2FA

US Bank seems to require 2FA every single login, so syncing that bank without manually authenticating is not yet possible, unfortunately.

Tips on Debugging

If you hit some kind of issue, here are a few ways to work around most potential problems:

1. You can always monitor the login process (and also confirm that in-app offer syncing works the way described above!) by syncing your accounts from the main Offer Sync screen. You can access it from the For You screen, as well as the Offers tab.

   
   

2. From the Offer Sync screen, start syncing your accounts (manually, or by tapping Sync All Accounts). As each account logs in, you'll see a small draggable sliver at the bottom of the screen. Tap or drag on that to expand it and you can see the app logging you in to each bank website. If something unexpected happens, like a slow login, unexpected security prompt, etc, you can enter the details from that web view to finish the login.

   
   
3. There are 3 icons to help sync your offers:
   1. Home: Tap to jump to the homepage for that bank website where you should see the login form.
   2. Key: Tap to fill in your locally-saved credentials when on the login form.

   3. Download: Tap to start a card and offer sync once logged in, which will also minimize the web sheet again once that starts syncing.

      
      
4. If some problem persists, please share more details and send an offer sync log by tapping the Report a Problem at the bottom of the Offer Sync screen. If you don't have an account set up in the standard Mail app to attach that, you can also find it in the Files app by going to "On My iPhone", then "CardPointers", and sending the log accessible from there.