From Eric Dunn, CEO of Quicken: Letter to the Quicken Community about the Membership Plan (November

Quicken Kathryn

Hello All,
Here's a letter from Eric Dunn, CEO of Quicken Inc., answering some of your questions about the new Quicken Membership Plan

Since the launch of the 2018 releases of Quicken, we have heard questions from many of you about the new Membership Plan, where customers subscribe to Quicken on an annual basis and automatically receive ongoing product improvements.  These questions, which I’ll address below, fall into four main categories: 

1. Questions about why we are making this change 
2. Concerns about the ongoing cost of Quicken Membership
3. Questions about our product plans after making the change 
4. Concerns about data ownership and “lock-in”  

Why the Change?
Our primary motivation for the change to a membership model is to simplify the experience of being an ongoing Quicken customer, and to allow us to better focus our company resources on improving the Quicken software, services, and customer care experience.

We know that the majority of Quicken customers are long-term users, who are looking for stability and reliability with as few disruptions as possible.  Our users have consistently told us that they dread the upgrade process.  At the same time, Quicken needs continual updates in order to perform its function of collecting and organizing financial data for you from a wide variety of sources – data sources which are moving targets due to evolving technology and security considerations.

The best solution, we concluded, was to get all our customers on the same “model year” and to move from “big bang” annual upgrades to a system of continuous releases throughout the year.  All customers, no matter when they become a member, will always get the latest version.  We achieve this through the change to the membership model.  It also allows us, over time, to focus our communications to you on useful product information rather than annual upgrade pitches. 

What about the economics of the Membership Plan?  It is indeed better for our company – but primarily because it’s a more efficient way of delivering Quicken to users, not because the average user will be paying more (see below).  The management team and I here at Quicken are genuinely excited about the change, because we believe it’s a true win-win.


Cost of Ownership
With the change to membership model, there are changes to the cost of ownership of Quicken.  For the many of you who are annual upgraders, Quicken now costs 1/3 less each year ($49.99 for Deluxe vs $74.99).  For infrequent upgraders it costs more.  Customers who use Quicken BillPay, Premium Care, or Quicken Online Backup will see significant savings with a Membership.  You also won’t have to buy Quicken twice to use it on both Mac and Windows, since both platforms are included.

We realize that there is a group of Quicken users who purchase Quicken every three years, on sale, and currently have a very low cost of ownership. These customers should know that, as in the past, there are multiple ways to buy Quicken, including from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Costco, Sam’s and Walmart.  Due to the promotional efforts of our retail partners, as I write this, a two year subscription of Quicken is available at retail for as little as $65 for Deluxe and $50 for Starter (the equivalent of $2.71 and $2.08 per month, respectively).

Finally, I want to assure your that we will keep working hard to ensure that Quicken is the best and most cost-effective way for you to continue managing your money.  When Quicken for Windows launched in 1991, the price (in 2017 dollars) was $108. We expect to continue to make Quicken more affordable in the years ahead.


Product Plans
One concern I have heard expressed is that having moved to the membership model, we will “rest on our oars” and stop trying to improve Quicken.  This is not what you will see: our business success is dependent on our Quicken Members seeing enough value so that they keep their membership.  At the same time, the product teams are psyched to be moving to a mode where they can continually deliver functionality without having to wait for annual release events.  As customers shift from the pre-membership Quicken versions (which we continue to support), the development teams also look forward to being able to put all their efforts into a single Quicken version.

Finally, you should know that today we have the largest and most capable Quicken product team since the mid 1990s.  Over the past year, a lot of their work has been invisible as we have undertaken the strenuous work of migrating Quicken from Intuit-operated to Quicken-operated services and technologies.  Beginning now, more of their work will become evident as they turn their attention to making Quicken visibly better.


Data Ownership
I have heard concerns that with Membership, you may have less control over your data.  This isn’t true.  Quicken continues to store data locally on your computer.  Also, as with previous versions of Quicken, if you choose to use Quicken Mobile, Quicken will sync your data to the Cloud.  With the 2018 releases of Quicken, in fact, we have a new tool for managing multiple Cloud Accounts, allowing you to rename and delete your cloud datasets, as well as giving you access to multiple data files on your mobile device.  As in the past (including under our prior Intuit ownership), cloud-synced accounts are stored in a database on Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), a secure, trusted cloud infrastructure used by many of the best-known and most-respected technology companies.

We have also heard concerns about access to Quicken data if you choose not to renew your membership.  With the Quicken Data Access Guarantee, you are assured that you will continue to have full access to and control over your desktop data, even if you don’t renew.

See: https://www.quicken.com/support/what-quicken-data-access-guarantee  for more details.


Other Questions
What about Quicken 2015, 2016, and 2017?
We will continue to support these products through their original connected services lifetimes (through April 2018, April 2019 and April 2020 respectively).

Can I use Quicken on multiple computers?
Yes, you can continue to use Quicken on multiple computers, as in the past.  You will need to sign in with the same Quicken ID associated with your membership, but you can continue to use multiple different desktop files and cloud datasets.


Summary
We have changed to a membership plan to simplify the user experience of being an ongoing Quicken user, to allow us to operate our business more efficiently, and to focus our efforts on delivering a great software, service, and customer care experience.  Although the pricing is different, Quicken continues to deliver great value to members.  We expect to deliver product improvements at an accelerated pace going forward, and you will continue to own and control your Quicken data.  Overall, we think the Membership Plan will be an improvement for everyone.


Thank you, 
Eric Dunn

Unknown

I personally think that this is a step in the right direction, and my hope is that Quicken will truly benefit from this new model.  Time will tell as the the "older versions" are discontinued and more time can be spent on the one version.

If nothing else I will not have to listen to the yearly "How dare you not give me downloading of transactions for life!  I'm going to sue, class-action suit anyone?"

thecreator

Many Users who purchased Quicken from Intuit / Quicken, no longer have access to those programs. Will the past purchases, be moved to their new Quicken ID? Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016 and Quicken 2017?

When you sign into Intuit / Quicken with the old Intuit ID, it takes you back to Quicken.com to Sign in and when you sign in the purchases associated with your old Intuit User ID, have not been moved over to the new Quicken ID.

This includes Reward Copies as well.

Not to mention Canadian Customers.

mshiggins

Eric, thank you for the update and continuing to listen to and act on customer feedback.



I am concerned about the new 1 Quicken ID per subscription model. I currently manage my own data file and several data files for others, each data file with its own QID. I am not pirating or sharing the software with others - Quicken is installed only on my computer.



I do not want to manage the other people's files under my QID as they are separate tax entities and should remain completely separate.



With the new subscription model I will have to purchase several subscriptions to keep all the data properly separated. From a cost standpoint, I can't justify continuing to use Quicken to manage finances for myself and the others I am responsible for.



This suggestion has been posted asking for a change to the 1 QID per subscription model:



https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...



I hope you will monitor this suggestion as it collects votes and comments.

Marketing Guru

I am currently on Quicken 2016 Home & Business. We use it for managing one rental property and doing light invoicing for our very small business. I can tell you that, given the $100 PER YEAR charge for 2018  and considering all the software problems Quicken has  had, we will NOT be moving to the subscription model.  You have effectively tripled cost of ownership for us.

I can't tell you the amount of time I invested  in keeping Quicken working with my credit union (reset account, rebuild account, etc. etc.) when it finally turned out that some programmer had messed up the scripting for online access. It wasn't anything the CU had done but something the Quicken scripting department had farkled. 

Further, each new iteration of Quicken has  created new bugs to squash without adding any more real functionality. For example, in investment tracking, I have LONG wanted (and requested) the ability to create custom classes of investments so that an analysis would produce a more granular report than currently available. It's never happened.  In addition, as banks create more two-step authorization systems, Quicken has increasingly failed to properly deal with them.

Whenever a company raises prices, it should only do so from a position of strength. I'm sorry guys, but that's clearly NOT where you are right now. "Bringing everyone to the same level" is NOT a customer benefit. It's a benefit for your company. 

Unknown

mshiggins said:

Eric, thank you for the update and continuing to listen to and act on customer feedback.



I am concerned about the new 1 Quicken ID per subscription model. I currently manage my own data file and several data files for others, each data file with its own QID. I am not pirating or sharing the software with others - Quicken is installed only on my computer.



I do not want to manage the other people's files under my QID as they are separate tax entities and should remain completely separate.



With the new subscription model I will have to purchase several subscriptions to keep all the data properly separated. From a cost standpoint, I can't justify continuing to use Quicken to manage finances for myself and the others I am responsible for.



This suggestion has been posted asking for a change to the 1 QID per subscription model:



https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...



I hope you will monitor this suggestion as it collects votes and comments.

Mary, while I understand what you are trying to accomplish and what your needs are, my question to you would be why do you think Quicken needs to acquiesce to your needs (not trying to be snarky here...just curious)?

Because as I would see it, even though YOU are managing data files for OTHERS, in reality the others should and are required by Quicken to have their own subscription.

I see no reason they SHOULDN'T be required to have their own subscription.  Whether you handle their finances and a Quicken data file for them...or whether they would do it on their own (and I'm assuming they are incapable of doing that, which I understand), it's still basically a completely different user.

And thus, a new subscription should be paid for that (or those) user(s). 

This would be completely different than a spouse with their own Quicken data file or a child or even an elderly relative.

If it's a spouse, there's no downside to seeing the associated info with a Quicken ID, unless there is some info they don't want to be shared (which nowadays anything is possible). 

In the case of a child or relative, I would assume that they would NOT be viewing their financial data.  It's merely record keeping on the subscribers part.  And if you wanted to print reports and handle financial affairs for the others that you maintain data files for, that shouldn't be an issue either.

But if they WERE viewing their own financial data and be in possession of the Quicken software (and of course that situation would be similar to yours), then they should have their own subscription license. 

That only makes sense.  Because if it's how you would like Quicken to handle this, it actually would be NO different than pirating your copy of Quicken.  You'd in essence be using it for other users...family members or not.

If I was maintaining my adult daughter's finances on Quicken, but she had no interest on her part in maintaining that info in Quicken, that would be a perfect way to have multiple data files with one Quicken ID.

But as soon as she would say to me to continue to maintain her data file, but she'd like a copy of the software to view her transactions, see her tax status, etc...that would be another subscription.  I certainly would not want to be sharing my credit score and other online data that is associated with my Quicken ID with my adult daughter.  

Now if the data files you maintain for other users just want reports, then fine.  But if they require the Quicken software as well, then it's another license, another ID and another subscription issue.

I don't want this to be confrontational.  I see your point, but like Quicken Inc I don't think it's right to give subscribers carte blanche to use their subscription for others who would then have the opportunity to access the Quicken software with data maintained on their behalf by someone else.

mattyv123

A subscription service model puts the onus on Quicken to continue to innovate and provide continuous updates and features.  

If they fail to do so, customers will simply stop paying and their revenues will dry up.  As a subscription-based business, the whole team is strongly incentivized towards excellence (from customer service to development) to keep their current customers happy (not someone who bought it 4 years ago, running some outdated version, and having problems).  It also provides the cash flow a tech company needs to grow and expand the software.

I'm sure this was a tough decision, but is just one of many that gives me confidence the new owners of Quicken are serious about building the product and will give it a bright future.

Jerry_

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Many Users who purchased Quicken from Intuit / Quicken, no longer have access to those programs. Will the past purchases, be moved to their new Quicken ID? Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016 and Quicken 2017?

When you sign into Intuit / Quicken with the old Intuit ID, it takes you back to Quicken.com to Sign in and when you sign in the purchases associated with your old Intuit User ID, have not been moved over to the new Quicken ID.

This includes Reward Copies as well.

Not to mention Canadian Customers.

@thecreator We US customers can already reference our past purchases and downloads by going to; https://www.quicken.com/my-account and logging in with our new Quicken ID. One finds the downloads at the bottom of one's account page.  For me I can download Quicken 2014 thru 2017.

However, I am not familiar with Reward Copes. I don't think one can reference such on the Quicken Account Page as of yet. Does anybody else know? 

Unknown

[Profanity removed] The aim is more profit pure and simple. If you didn't force us to update by cutting off access to data, you'd have to fire half or more of your workforce. If there was something as good now or in the future, I would jump ship faster than you put out more bilge.

mshiggins

mshiggins said:

Eric, thank you for the update and continuing to listen to and act on customer feedback.



I am concerned about the new 1 Quicken ID per subscription model. I currently manage my own data file and several data files for others, each data file with its own QID. I am not pirating or sharing the software with others - Quicken is installed only on my computer.



I do not want to manage the other people's files under my QID as they are separate tax entities and should remain completely separate.



With the new subscription model I will have to purchase several subscriptions to keep all the data properly separated. From a cost standpoint, I can't justify continuing to use Quicken to manage finances for myself and the others I am responsible for.



This suggestion has been posted asking for a change to the 1 QID per subscription model:



https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...



I hope you will monitor this suggestion as it collects votes and comments.

I recommend any further discussion on enabling more than 1 QID per subscription should be done in that suggestion:


https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...

Unknown

Stuart Rouff said:

[Profanity removed] The aim is more profit pure and simple. If you didn't force us to update by cutting off access to data, you'd have to fire half or more of your workforce. If there was something as good now or in the future, I would jump ship faster than you put out more bilge.

I have been a Quicken user from the start. I didn't need to buy anything but the software until recently. The problem is that you have gone about as far and you can go and there isn't much that you can do that really is very meaningful to basic users who merely want to keep track of their checking and savings accounts. They have no reason to update thus your profits are limited. You have found the only way out by switching to a annual fee. All your sugar coated explanations about how your doing this for your customers may allow you to sleep better at night but doesn't cover up the real reason for the change, ie. GREED

Rick2

While I am not a fan of the subscription model and the cost, that is not my reason for not upgrading from 2016.  I really dislike what you have done to the user interface( starting in 2017).  The new look makeover reminds me of software out of the 1980's.  The product had more user options 20 years ago than it does now. The color options, icons etc now are just terrible. So I'll watch from the side line for another year. It is what you have done to the look and feel of the product that has me unhappy and not willing to pay for a subscription.

mshiggins

Stuart Rouff said:

[Profanity removed] The aim is more profit pure and simple. If you didn't force us to update by cutting off access to data, you'd have to fire half or more of your workforce. If there was something as good now or in the future, I would jump ship faster than you put out more bilge.

Yeah. Imagine that. A business that wants to make a profit!

Quicken Kathryn

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Many Users who purchased Quicken from Intuit / Quicken, no longer have access to those programs. Will the past purchases, be moved to their new Quicken ID? Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016 and Quicken 2017?

When you sign into Intuit / Quicken with the old Intuit ID, it takes you back to Quicken.com to Sign in and when you sign in the purchases associated with your old Intuit User ID, have not been moved over to the new Quicken ID.

This includes Reward Copies as well.

Not to mention Canadian Customers.

@thecreator - I think this is an issue with your Intuit ID not being properly migrated; if this is the case, for any user, they can contact Quicken Support for replacement copies.

Hope this helps,
Quicken Kathryn

thecreator

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Many Users who purchased Quicken from Intuit / Quicken, no longer have access to those programs. Will the past purchases, be moved to their new Quicken ID? Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016 and Quicken 2017?

When you sign into Intuit / Quicken with the old Intuit ID, it takes you back to Quicken.com to Sign in and when you sign in the purchases associated with your old Intuit User ID, have not been moved over to the new Quicken ID.

This includes Reward Copies as well.

Not to mention Canadian Customers.

Hi @ Jerry ,

I am signed in, but don't wish to display my information, but as you see, mine is missing.

John_in_NC

I have been a proponent of the subscription model for Quicken for years as I knew it was inevitable. The annual release schedule is outmoded.

I certainly appreciate how the Mac development has been much more agile over the past few releases, with features being added throughout the year. In years prior (Intuit days), annual release features were mere marketing talking points that often missed the mark. And, said features were quickly abandoned (i.e. left half baked) as development had to rush to the next marketing whims. Now, I see fixing and polishing of existing features.

I am sure Quicken will lose some customers from this transition, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. It takes time and money to develop software and keep the back end infrastructure running to support it. (many people miss the latter point). I certainly don't mind ponying up the money for tools that help me do my job. 

The switch to a subscription model turns the page to a more positive direction.

Unknown

I stopped using Quicken shortly after I paid to upgrade to 2015.
Quicken is now very difficult to use.
I do everything in Excel now - a lot less work.

Unknown

I have been a Quicken for about 20 years.  I have always been upset by the fact that I have to buy a new copy every 2 years just so I can keep the download function.  Now I am really upset that I will have to pay for a new copy EVERY YEAR i.e subscription.  In reading the comments above I feel the negative ones have been edited out.  Quicken management if you DON'T want to lose more loyal customers don't require everyone to convert to the subscription model.  I fell this is just a money grab.    I do have to agree with a couple of comments I saw that the changes Quicken have made over the years have not always been for the better.   I live in the San Francisco area and if you would like to form a user focus group I would be happy to be part of that.  You really need more input from actual user and not a bunch of programmers that have to continue to make change to keep their jobs.

Unknown

Stuart Rouff said:

[Profanity removed] The aim is more profit pure and simple. If you didn't force us to update by cutting off access to data, you'd have to fire half or more of your workforce. If there was something as good now or in the future, I would jump ship faster than you put out more bilge.

I agree and the last I looked Quicken was quite profitable.  What do you mean something for free.  Once I buy, install, and set up the downloads from my finical companies quicken isn't really involved, i.e. it doesn't cost them anything.  Also what do you call it when they take away to let you do it manually by downloading it from the back or stock broker.  GREED.

Unknown

If you truly guarantee access to our data, how about an option to export to an OFX file that other financial programs can import?
Not QIF.

Unknown

Marketing Guru said:

I am currently on Quicken 2016 Home & Business. We use it for managing one rental property and doing light invoicing for our very small business. I can tell you that, given the $100 PER YEAR charge for 2018  and considering all the software problems Quicken has  had, we will NOT be moving to the subscription model.  You have effectively tripled cost of ownership for us.

I can't tell you the amount of time I invested  in keeping Quicken working with my credit union (reset account, rebuild account, etc. etc.) when it finally turned out that some programmer had messed up the scripting for online access. It wasn't anything the CU had done but something the Quicken scripting department had farkled. 

Further, each new iteration of Quicken has  created new bugs to squash without adding any more real functionality. For example, in investment tracking, I have LONG wanted (and requested) the ability to create custom classes of investments so that an analysis would produce a more granular report than currently available. It's never happened.  In addition, as banks create more two-step authorization systems, Quicken has increasingly failed to properly deal with them.

Whenever a company raises prices, it should only do so from a position of strength. I'm sorry guys, but that's clearly NOT where you are right now. "Bringing everyone to the same level" is NOT a customer benefit. It's a benefit for your company. 

While I'm not sure why this was edited, I wanted to join in  the same issue.  I have been an quicken user for just a few years - since 2010, when Microsoft decided to require us to change - loss of Money.

I am also a proponent of an annual fee - that is justified.  My review of my purchases, provided below shows a definite increase in my costs for a product that is only updated slightly each year.  The first column is the year, second is when and what I paid to purchase, and the right column would be what the new subscription will costs me.

As you see, I would have an increase of 57%, under the new program - what is my additional 57% gain?  I do not see any. 

Instead of 49.99 for Deluxe, why not a $19.99  or 29.99 annual fee - something more reasonable.  This would make it more palatable.  Under the current plan, I would simple be the same a purchasing a new version each year, without any possible discounts, as I may have received in the past.






2010
$56.99
49.99


2011
$21.59
49.99


2012            
49.99


2013
$39.84
49.99


2014
$39.83
49.99


2015             49.99


2016
$47.67
49.99


2017
$48.81
49.99

       $254.73  $399.92 


57%
Increase

miklk

mshiggins said:

Eric, thank you for the update and continuing to listen to and act on customer feedback.



I am concerned about the new 1 Quicken ID per subscription model. I currently manage my own data file and several data files for others, each data file with its own QID. I am not pirating or sharing the software with others - Quicken is installed only on my computer.



I do not want to manage the other people's files under my QID as they are separate tax entities and should remain completely separate.



With the new subscription model I will have to purchase several subscriptions to keep all the data properly separated. From a cost standpoint, I can't justify continuing to use Quicken to manage finances for myself and the others I am responsible for.



This suggestion has been posted asking for a change to the 1 QID per subscription model:



https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...



I hope you will monitor this suggestion as it collects votes and comments.

Agree completely. A 3 license subscription, allowing an extra ID or 2 to be added, or just fix the poor implementation so mobile does not expose all the data to other users at a minimum.

Jerry_

thecreator - QKN 2017 & 2019 Windows said:

Many Users who purchased Quicken from Intuit / Quicken, no longer have access to those programs. Will the past purchases, be moved to their new Quicken ID? Quicken 2015, Quicken 2016 and Quicken 2017?

When you sign into Intuit / Quicken with the old Intuit ID, it takes you back to Quicken.com to Sign in and when you sign in the purchases associated with your old Intuit User ID, have not been moved over to the new Quicken ID.

This includes Reward Copies as well.

Not to mention Canadian Customers.

thecreator, Have not seen any page like your page. I would follow Quicken Kathryn's suggestion and contact Quicken Support. Looks like your migration path became corrupted. 

mrzookie

Eric,

Thanks for the update. In response, here's some feedback I hope you'll consider:

I've been using Quicken H&B for about 10 years now. I'm one of those customers who upgrade every three years, using software purchased from a partner, or from Quicken, at a discount. My cost of ownership has been, on average, about $20/year. The subscription model will surely increase that number substantially. That being said, I've also been a technology professional for over 25 years. I know what it takes to keep a complex application moving forward, up-to-date, and running well. $20 a year likely doesn't cut it. For that reason, I'm happy to pay the additional cost if there are tangible changes in product and service going forward.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the move to the membership model, because its obvious to me that maintaining and improving all the various products has become untenable. Both product quality and support have deteriorated significantly in the time I've been a customer, to the point that it should be an embarrassment to you and the people who work for you. I'd have upgraded more often, but like many others, I've dreaded any time it came to do it. Even minor updates caused concern. I've never had that feeling with other software packages, and I've been using them since the days of the original IBM PC. I'm hoping that, with the increased revenue and ability to focus on fewer product versions, Quicken will be able to right its tilting ship. I know, from experience, that this is not going to happen overnight, but the membership model is a step in the right direction, and I fully will support you in this effort unless I get the sense that an appropriate portion of the new revenue is not going back into the product. 

I consider Quicken to be an important financial tool, and if the company goes down, I suffer. Nonetheless, the risk is real and I fully expect that some users will discontinue the use of the product, creating more risk. Your job is to win them (and more) back, and it needs to be done with commitment  and quality.  I hope you see it that way too.

So, right now, I understand and support your business vision - conditionally. In return, I ask the following commitments from you:

(1) Fix the bugs. They are legion. Make it priority 1, before adding new functionality. Start with errors in logic/function, then the interface and finally less critical issues. Elicit feedback and suggestions from beta testers and the user community at large - there are some really bright and energetic people on this board. Pay attention to what they tell you before designing, coding and implementing. It takes time, effort and money, but as the saying goes "never enough resource to do it right, but always enough to do it again". 

(2) Stop using customers as alpha and beta testers. Hire an experienced QC director and let that person do their thing.  A user should never have to dread doing an upgrade. It should be something to look forward to.

(3) Fix the support function. Right now its an absolute mess. Wait times are insane, and reps are uninformed and/or don't know what they're doing. Its inexcusable.

(4) Improve communications and customer relations. A small investment in these areas can go a long way to keeping the customer base and adding to it.

I can't speak for others, but if you do this, and do it right, I will be fine with the membership model, and its additional cost. I would be then likely be willing to pay even more for well designed and implemented improvements and additions.

Hope you take this in the spirit in which its intended.

Best of luck (to all of us).

Marketing Guru

mrzookie said:

Eric,

Thanks for the update. In response, here's some feedback I hope you'll consider:

I've been using Quicken H&B for about 10 years now. I'm one of those customers who upgrade every three years, using software purchased from a partner, or from Quicken, at a discount. My cost of ownership has been, on average, about $20/year. The subscription model will surely increase that number substantially. That being said, I've also been a technology professional for over 25 years. I know what it takes to keep a complex application moving forward, up-to-date, and running well. $20 a year likely doesn't cut it. For that reason, I'm happy to pay the additional cost if there are tangible changes in product and service going forward.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the move to the membership model, because its obvious to me that maintaining and improving all the various products has become untenable. Both product quality and support have deteriorated significantly in the time I've been a customer, to the point that it should be an embarrassment to you and the people who work for you. I'd have upgraded more often, but like many others, I've dreaded any time it came to do it. Even minor updates caused concern. I've never had that feeling with other software packages, and I've been using them since the days of the original IBM PC. I'm hoping that, with the increased revenue and ability to focus on fewer product versions, Quicken will be able to right its tilting ship. I know, from experience, that this is not going to happen overnight, but the membership model is a step in the right direction, and I fully will support you in this effort unless I get the sense that an appropriate portion of the new revenue is not going back into the product. 

I consider Quicken to be an important financial tool, and if the company goes down, I suffer. Nonetheless, the risk is real and I fully expect that some users will discontinue the use of the product, creating more risk. Your job is to win them (and more) back, and it needs to be done with commitment  and quality.  I hope you see it that way too.

So, right now, I understand and support your business vision - conditionally. In return, I ask the following commitments from you:

(1) Fix the bugs. They are legion. Make it priority 1, before adding new functionality. Start with errors in logic/function, then the interface and finally less critical issues. Elicit feedback and suggestions from beta testers and the user community at large - there are some really bright and energetic people on this board. Pay attention to what they tell you before designing, coding and implementing. It takes time, effort and money, but as the saying goes "never enough resource to do it right, but always enough to do it again". 

(2) Stop using customers as alpha and beta testers. Hire an experienced QC director and let that person do their thing.  A user should never have to dread doing an upgrade. It should be something to look forward to.

(3) Fix the support function. Right now its an absolute mess. Wait times are insane, and reps are uninformed and/or don't know what they're doing. Its inexcusable.

(4) Improve communications and customer relations. A small investment in these areas can go a long way to keeping the customer base and adding to it.

I can't speak for others, but if you do this, and do it right, I will be fine with the membership model, and its additional cost. I would be then likely be willing to pay even more for well designed and implemented improvements and additions.

Hope you take this in the spirit in which its intended.

Best of luck (to all of us).

My problem with your whole scenario is that it puts the cart before the horse. HIG Capital BOUGHT Quicken knowing what they had. If they didn't they were stupid.  HIG Capital has $24 BILLION in assets under management. So they have the resources to FIX Quicken and prove to their customers that the program WORKS with an up front investment. Instead, they change the revenue model (which looks like bad faith to most Quicken users) and say "trust us but pay us first, we'll make things better later". Seriously, is that the way businesses work to restore confidence in a valuable but deeply flawed product? I don't think so.

Unknown

Allen Brice said:

If you truly guarantee access to our data, how about an option to export to an OFX file that other financial programs can import?
Not QIF.

Allen Brice

Do you realize that the OFX format/standard was never meant as a way to transfer data from one personal finance program to another?

Is intended for a client application like Quicken to talk to a financial institution to get information (like transactions), and for sending instructions, like bill paying.

It lacks the syntax to capture what is needed to transfer data to another personal finance program.  QIF format is in fact much "richer" (and still lacking) in syntax to handle such an export/import.

For instance there is no syntax in OFX for categories.  Nothing for security price lists, memorized payees, ...

An OFX export is certainly not what you want.  QIF is about the best there is in an "universal open format" that most other personal finance programs can read.

And that is key.  Even if Quicken extends the QIF format to include what it lacks (like support for options, security lots, ...), the other personal finance programs would have to update their importing to allow for that.

It is interesting that probably one of the best "exports" currently is Quicken Mac.  Even though it seems like all it has is limited exports in CSV format for reports.
Because its database format is open source other personal finance programs have taken advantage of that, and read directly from the database.

Jeffrey Wilens

Marketing Guru said:

I am currently on Quicken 2016 Home & Business. We use it for managing one rental property and doing light invoicing for our very small business. I can tell you that, given the $100 PER YEAR charge for 2018  and considering all the software problems Quicken has  had, we will NOT be moving to the subscription model.  You have effectively tripled cost of ownership for us.

I can't tell you the amount of time I invested  in keeping Quicken working with my credit union (reset account, rebuild account, etc. etc.) when it finally turned out that some programmer had messed up the scripting for online access. It wasn't anything the CU had done but something the Quicken scripting department had farkled. 

Further, each new iteration of Quicken has  created new bugs to squash without adding any more real functionality. For example, in investment tracking, I have LONG wanted (and requested) the ability to create custom classes of investments so that an analysis would produce a more granular report than currently available. It's never happened.  In addition, as banks create more two-step authorization systems, Quicken has increasingly failed to properly deal with them.

Whenever a company raises prices, it should only do so from a position of strength. I'm sorry guys, but that's clearly NOT where you are right now. "Bringing everyone to the same level" is NOT a customer benefit. It's a benefit for your company. 

The benefit of a subscription is better customer service.  If you buy Quicken 2015 and keep using it for many years and have a technical support problem, you are going to have great difficult getting it or will have to pay for it.  Frankly, they don't care about you.  If you are annual subscriber the pressure  is and if the software is not up to snuff and the customer support lacking you could cancel your subscription and ask for a partial refund.

Jeffrey Wilens

Stuart Rouff said:

[Profanity removed] The aim is more profit pure and simple. If you didn't force us to update by cutting off access to data, you'd have to fire half or more of your workforce. If there was something as good now or in the future, I would jump ship faster than you put out more bilge.

if you have one or two bank accounts and that's it, you don't need Quicken.  If you have 20 or more accounts you would benefit from it.  That's 20 different banks or brokers using up to 20 different data download formats for them to keep operational, that's a big burden.  The "new thing" Quicken has to do is keep adjusting to the ever changing Internet interfaces with the banks and brokers.

Jeffrey Wilens

mrzookie said:

Eric,

Thanks for the update. In response, here's some feedback I hope you'll consider:

I've been using Quicken H&B for about 10 years now. I'm one of those customers who upgrade every three years, using software purchased from a partner, or from Quicken, at a discount. My cost of ownership has been, on average, about $20/year. The subscription model will surely increase that number substantially. That being said, I've also been a technology professional for over 25 years. I know what it takes to keep a complex application moving forward, up-to-date, and running well. $20 a year likely doesn't cut it. For that reason, I'm happy to pay the additional cost if there are tangible changes in product and service going forward.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the move to the membership model, because its obvious to me that maintaining and improving all the various products has become untenable. Both product quality and support have deteriorated significantly in the time I've been a customer, to the point that it should be an embarrassment to you and the people who work for you. I'd have upgraded more often, but like many others, I've dreaded any time it came to do it. Even minor updates caused concern. I've never had that feeling with other software packages, and I've been using them since the days of the original IBM PC. I'm hoping that, with the increased revenue and ability to focus on fewer product versions, Quicken will be able to right its tilting ship. I know, from experience, that this is not going to happen overnight, but the membership model is a step in the right direction, and I fully will support you in this effort unless I get the sense that an appropriate portion of the new revenue is not going back into the product. 

I consider Quicken to be an important financial tool, and if the company goes down, I suffer. Nonetheless, the risk is real and I fully expect that some users will discontinue the use of the product, creating more risk. Your job is to win them (and more) back, and it needs to be done with commitment  and quality.  I hope you see it that way too.

So, right now, I understand and support your business vision - conditionally. In return, I ask the following commitments from you:

(1) Fix the bugs. They are legion. Make it priority 1, before adding new functionality. Start with errors in logic/function, then the interface and finally less critical issues. Elicit feedback and suggestions from beta testers and the user community at large - there are some really bright and energetic people on this board. Pay attention to what they tell you before designing, coding and implementing. It takes time, effort and money, but as the saying goes "never enough resource to do it right, but always enough to do it again". 

(2) Stop using customers as alpha and beta testers. Hire an experienced QC director and let that person do their thing.  A user should never have to dread doing an upgrade. It should be something to look forward to.

(3) Fix the support function. Right now its an absolute mess. Wait times are insane, and reps are uninformed and/or don't know what they're doing. Its inexcusable.

(4) Improve communications and customer relations. A small investment in these areas can go a long way to keeping the customer base and adding to it.

I can't speak for others, but if you do this, and do it right, I will be fine with the membership model, and its additional cost. I would be then likely be willing to pay even more for well designed and implemented improvements and additions.

Hope you take this in the spirit in which its intended.

Best of luck (to all of us).

Assets "under management" is not money they are free to spend on Quicken.  LOL

Unknown

With all due respect to the CEO's justification for going to a one-year activation so the company can focus on updating a single version of Quicken rather than having to maintain three yearly versions that are currently active at any given time... baloney.

Since the new continually updated version of Quicken has a rolling expiration date based on the date of actual installation, it would have been just as simple to assign a three year validity period as the one year period that they did.

It is all about the money -- tripling the cost for those Quicken Deluxe users who have traditionally only bought a new version every three years.

leishirsute

My concern is that with the new upgrade model, all customers will essentially be made part of a beta testing group for upgrades and will have to deal with much more frequent bugs.