unofficial microsoft.public.money FAQ and A
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Complaint Department

Q) What's up with this expiration date for online services I read about in the EULA?

[Relevant to Money2003 (v.11) and up]

A) Many of us always figured there was an implicit date beyond which Microsoft was not going to provide services that cost them money to provide on legacy interfaces that cost them money to maintain in exchange for the same $10 we paid for the software way back when. Beginning with M03, Microsoft finally made this explicit by setting service periods and cutoff dates after which they won't provide these services. Further, these periods vary by the package licensed with the expensive packages getting support longer than the cheap ones. It makes some sense--who else ever agrees to provide a service to you forever for nothing more than you paid in the beginning?

M05 set the same service period without regard to the version. It also added Yodlee integration which probably does have marginal cost to Microsoft as a function of time. Microsoft is steadily moving Money away from an "application software licensed in perpetuity" business model to a "service subscription" model where the fees will be based on time used, regardless of version.

Mark Horn read this answer and correctly pointed out that it doesn't mention a more insidious aspect to this. Money's service cutoff also includes transaction data downloads direct from your financial institution to you. These downloads, provided they work and don't entail support costs or use protocols that Microsoft and the FIs would rather make disappear, cost Microsoft absolutely nothing. It's like Stanley Tools telling you that the hammer you bought from them will stop driving nails in two years. But there it is. What are you going to do?

Please see this disclaimer if you are using Money 2005 or this comment if you are using Money 2006.

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