I haven't spoken to a single person at PC Financial who understands what Quicken files do... and thus their importance to us.
No one understands that Quicken files automatically enter and reconcile transactions. It's a huge time saver.
Each time I inquire when Quicken downloads will return I'm told to use CSV files...
CSV files are compatible with Excel, Open Office, and Google Docs.
I try to explain that CSV files are little more than up-to-date statements and do not provide the same functionality.
Why would they direct me to use Excel, Open Office, or Google Docs when I enquire about Quicken? It's maddening.
Since Chris' QuickenPerlz gets free advertising on here for his conversion software, I just want to throw out here that ProperSoft also has file convertors from .csv to .qfx for Windows AND Mac versions of Quicken.
Cannot believe that PC Financial won't allow this feature anymore ... it is unbelievable ... I guess for small businesses using Quickbooks it will also be a problem.. PC Financial new website is also a step back in many ways. I will probably also change my MasterCard to something more useful that includes download to Quicken. I have used Quicken for at least 20 years now! Can someone suggest a good alternative that includes the download to Quicken? ..
Yes. All of the BMO mastercards would work. The World card is geared to relatively high income and high monthly spend, but there are more basic cards that would work equally well.
I haven't spoken to a single person at PC Financial who understands what Quicken files do... and thus their importance to us.
No one understands that Quicken files automatically enter and reconcile transactions. It's a huge time saver.
Each time I inquire when Quicken downloads will return I'm told to use CSV files...
CSV files are compatible with Excel, Open Office, and Google Docs.
I try to explain that CSV files are little more than up-to-date statements and do not provide the same functionality.
Why would they direct me to use Excel, Open Office, or Google Docs when I enquire about Quicken? It's maddening.
The ProperSoft solution requires that you falsify your financial institution so that Quicken will import the data file. Doesn't sound like very ethical programming practice to me. ImportQIF violates no rules in Quicken.
-splasher using Q since 1996 - Subscription - Win10 -also older versions as needed for testing -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
I haven't spoken to a single person at PC Financial who understands what Quicken files do... and thus their importance to us.
No one understands that Quicken files automatically enter and reconcile transactions. It's a huge time saver.
Each time I inquire when Quicken downloads will return I'm told to use CSV files...
CSV files are compatible with Excel, Open Office, and Google Docs.
I try to explain that CSV files are little more than up-to-date statements and do not provide the same functionality.
Why would they direct me to use Excel, Open Office, or Google Docs when I enquire about Quicken? It's maddening.
Not sure how unethical it is when Quicken itself has on several occasions provided and encouraged the solution to manipulate the INTU.BID in a file to address certain problems. There is enough info on this forum and elsewhere on this.
If it was, they would not have proposed the solution and would have discouraged the practice and the sharing of this information.
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I haven't spoken to a single person at PC Financial who understands what Quicken files do... and thus their importance to us.
No one understands that Quicken files automatically enter and reconcile transactions. It's a huge time saver.
Each time I inquire when Quicken downloads will return I'm told to use CSV files...
CSV files are compatible with Excel, Open Office, and Google Docs.
I try to explain that CSV files are little more than up-to-date statements and do not provide the same functionality.
Why would they direct me to use Excel, Open Office, or Google Docs when I enquire about Quicken? It's maddening.
What ProperSoft is doing is similar to a hacker selling his hacking tools for people to use to change their credit card bills. What Q did was to temporarily solve a problem and they did it to themselves.
-splasher using Q since 1996 - Subscription - Win10 -also older versions as needed for testing -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
@Dave Janice Schiman: I know never to say never, but it seems highly unlikely. Read some of the posts in this thread above and you'll get an understanding of why. A simple csv export isn't structured in a way Quicken could support without misplaced data and duplicate transactions; that's exactly why the QFX standard was developed.
QMac 2007 & QMac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
Put another way, why should Quicken develope an inferior input method when it has two perfectly viable methods just because a FI decides to drop support.
user since '92 | Quicken Windows Premier - Subscription | Windows 10 Pro version 2004
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
After reading all these posts if PC Financial doe not enable QFX downloads I will be getting rid of my PC Mastercard. I don't want to because of their rewards programs but QFX downloads are more important than any rewards.
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
I agree ... have already applied for another MasterCard ... and will probably cancel my PC MC ... after I have used the last of my rewards !
<MERCHANT NAME> <CARD USED FOR TRANSACTION> <DATE> <TIME> <AMOUNT>
Let's hope PC Financial makes QFX files available again.
In fact you have everything you need from the CSV to fill in those fields, but those aren't the fields you have to worry about.
DTUSER and SIC aren't needed (OFX standard allows for these not to be included).
The FITID is the unique Id that Quicken uses for determining if this is a new transaction. It can be created by using a hash of the other information, plus a counter that is needed just in case the CSV file has the exact same transaction in it more than once (Like a person paying for a toll to and from work). Or in this case you can use the time in the hash, but normally the time isn't provided.
The rest line up (<TRNTYPE> is just the separator for the transaction): <DTPOSTED> == <DATE> <TRNAMT> == <AMOUNT> <NAME> == <MERCHANT NAME>
Note the account number is put in a different field before the transactions, and Quicken locks into that and other header information to decide what account to import into.
The problem fields are: <FI> <ORG>XXXX <FID>##### </FI> <INTU.BID>######
Thank you for your e-mail. In regards to your inquiry, we apologize for any inconvenience however our new website is not compatible with quicken. Your online account will provide the option to download the last 6 months of your statements in a .csv file format. To download your statements using this format, please click on the “Transactions” tab on the top of your page. You can then choose the statement you wish to view by clicking on "Select Dates". Next choose the desired format by clicking the "Print" icon located on the top of the page. Should you have any additional questions or concerns you can e-mail or contact us through your online account. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience. Response time for any question or concern is 24 hours. Sincerely, President's Choice Financial MasterCard
I have sent the same msg to PC mastercard and received the same canned response. I also noted to them that their web page is sub standard; no alt tags on buttons is a no-no. You shouldn't have to click on a button to find out what it does (as is the way you find out what the grey "download" button does). You should be able to hover on the button....this goes without saying what the alt tag does for Accessibility for those who are visually impaired.
Needless to say, PC has made a big mistake here....be nice if Quicken can put some pressure on them. Are there other financial software's comparable to Qucken that could be used? Anyone have ideas?
I gave up on Quicken when they went to the yearly subscription model here in Canada. I now use Moneyspire. It will import QFX and QIF files without a problem.
@Frank Murphy What does that have to do with this discussion of PC Financial dropping support of Quicken? Especially since PCF does not provide either QFX or QIF style files.
-splasher using Q since 1996 - Subscription - Win10 -also older versions as needed for testing -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
I have sent the same msg to PC mastercard and received the same canned response. I also noted to them that their web page is sub standard; no alt tags on buttons is a no-no. You shouldn't have to click on a button to find out what it does (as is the way you find out what the grey "download" button does). You should be able to hover on the button....this goes without saying what the alt tag does for Accessibility for those who are visually impaired.
Needless to say, PC has made a big mistake here....be nice if Quicken can put some pressure on them. Are there other financial software's comparable to Qucken that could be used? Anyone have ideas?
I missed that point about hover labels in my feedback on website deficiencies, so I’m glad you’ve alerted it to them.
Canada does not currently have any legislation in place which compels private industry to ensure their services are accessible. But, there is legislation in the works (Bill C-81). The Bank Act contains a regulation on accessibility, but it says nothing about digital access. Ontario Bill 125 (2001) covers government web sites, but not banks. It could use an update — although Ontario is likely just waiting on the Feds to regulate accessibility nationwide via Bill C-81.
Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
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Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
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@Smayer97: what does the FIDIR.TXT tell you about download support for PC Financial for the Mac version. I presume there is a FIDIR.TXT for the Mac version as there is for the Windows version.
Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
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Both web connect and EWC are listed. But since we know web-connect no longer exists, I wanted to confirm about EWC/Quicken Connect.
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Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
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I guess I should have checked QWin-CA FDIR.txt before writing...I see that EWC is not even listed for PC. I assumed it would be given that it is rare that QMac has connections that QWin does not.
So it seems that EWC/Quicken Connect is only listed for PC for QMac...wonder if anyone has ever used it.
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Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
As an aside, it is interesting that for Tangerine, Web-connect is listed for QWin but EWC is listed for QMac... yet Tangerine flip-flopped on offering Web-connect a while ago. I double-checked; they do allow downloading a QFX file ...
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Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
I assumed it would be given that it is rare that QMac has connections that QWin does not.
Could it be that the Mac FIDir.txt just hasn't caught up with the change yet.
-splasher using Q since 1996 - Subscription - Win10 -also older versions as needed for testing -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
Thought that came to mind... has anyone ever tried using Express Web/Quicken Connect instead? Just wondering if this might still be a viable choice (though not holding out for that).
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
<MERCHANT NAME> <CARD USED FOR TRANSACTION> <DATE> <TIME> <AMOUNT>
Let's hope PC Financial makes QFX files available again.
Yes. And I will say that is both the problem and the solution, a person would have to "think outside of the box", and decide also how honest they would like to be.
Thank you for your e-mail. In regards to your inquiry, we apologize for any inconvenience however our new website is not compatible with quicken. Your online account will provide the option to download the last 6 months of your statements in a .csv file format. To download your statements using this format, please click on the “Transactions” tab on the top of your page. You can then choose the statement you wish to view by clicking on "Select Dates". Next choose the desired format by clicking the "Print" icon located on the top of the page. Should you have any additional questions or concerns you can e-mail or contact us through your online account. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience. Response time for any question or concern is 24 hours. Sincerely, President's Choice Financial MasterCard
PC MasterCard has just lost a long-time relationship with me. I finally waded through the startup of the 'new & improved' website and there is no way to download recent transactions into ANYTHING, let alone Quicken. I have spoken to 2 'agents' who I had no idea what I was talking about, followed by a supervisor who told me that they no longer support Quicken. This is total insanity on their part. They have bean counters who have absolutely NO idea what they are doing.
We are also very PO'd about this sudden change. We received the same canned response by email. When speaking with the help line yesterday they said, "Yet" but their written response indicates that they have absolutely no plans to include qfx, or qif formats for us. As previously mentioned the loyalty rewards for using this card is very good and, in fact, was voted as the #1 loyalty program in Canada. That doesn't matter to me if I can't download the transactions.
They'd better change their collective minds in a VERY short time or I'm gone. I cannot afford to not run my finances from my desktop, and that includes downloading recent transactions into Quicken. I'll bet there are millennials in that organization that have no idea that desktop computers exist where customers can download and organize their finances without using their smart phones. What a sad situation they have created.
Here's the text of a letter I sent to PC Financial this morning ...
To whom it may concern,
I am writing this to provide feedback regarding the recent changes to the PC Financial Mastercard website.
While some of the recent website changes are useful, and the site now looks prettier, I find that overall it is less functional than the old site.
The most grievous change, for me, is the removal of the transaction Download to Quicken feature. When I asked via the website message feature what happened to this feature, the answer I got back was simply that it was no longer available. I was told there is a Download to .CSV option, but that is of no use to Quicken users.
I worked in the software industry for over 35 years, and one rule we always followed was to avoid taking features away from our users unless there was a damn good reason to do so.
So I ask, what was your reason for removing this feature? Revamping the website look and feel or replacing its underlying technology are not reasons to remove a feature. Did anyone survey the user base to see what the impact of this would be? Did anyone do a usability study to determine how much work this would impose upon Quicken users?
Here's the impact on me. Every month I generate about 60 transactions on my PC Mastercard. Where before I could simply download those within 30 seconds, now I have to enter each one manually. But worse than that, as it happens I often enter transactions manually in order to capture certain details I want to track. With the QFX download previously available, I could download the transactions that have arrived since the last time I downloaded, and it would merge anything new in with my manual entries. That meant I didn't have to enter every transaction, and I didn't have to figure out which ones I entered manually and which ones I skipped.
Each month, I reconcile my Quicken account to my paper statement. This involves first downloading transactions to QFX in order to ensure I have all the transactions for the month. Without that step, I will now spend more time reconciling the statement because of transactions I might have neglected to enter manually.
You might wonder why I bother with all this. The answer is that the benefits outweigh the effort. Quicken provides me with budgeting, transaction history, and an overall snapshot of all my account balances, my net worth, and my net worth trend year over year. I can tell you when and where I bought my five year old BBQ, and how much I paid for it. I can tell you how much I spent on groceries this month, last month, this quarter, this year, and every year this century. Quicken gives me complete financial control.
There are thousands of Quicken users in Canada. I don't know how many use PC Mastercard, but you risk alienating all of them be eliminating the feature – even more so, by doing it without notice or consultation or even a decent explanation. There’s not even a mention of Quicken in the FAQ.
As for the rest of the website revamp, my synopsis would be: pretty, with a few new bells and whistles, but not better. The Dashboard is pretty, and the Current/Available Balance chart is nice, but the bar chart showing transaction amounts by day is of very little use.
The new transaction list has some nice filtering options. But the old transaction list was far more dense and compact, allowing me to see many transactions at once. The new list is sparse, with a lot of empty whitespace. There are pretty icon beside each transaction that provide no real value. Where I could once see 20 or more transactions at a time without scrolling, now I can only see a handful. All this will make monthly reconciliation more painstaking.
The Trends feature may be, for those who don’t use Quicken, a nice option. For me, it’s simply not flexible enough. The category bar graph uses categories that are based on merchant industry, which works to a limited extent but breaks down pretty rapidly with multi-category vendors like Shoppers Drug Mart, the grocery store (where I can also get wine, beer, household products, clothing etc.), Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, etc. A single large transaction in the month, such as buying a travel package, can make one bar very tall and the rest nearly invisible. There is no provision for drilling into the Other category.
The transaction view of the Trends feature provides a bar graph of the daily transaction total for the selected time period. What is the use case for this? Why would anyone care if they had more transactions on Tuesday than on Wednesday? If the point is to highlight large transactions, a top 10 list on the dashboard would be more useful. And you can always sort the transaction list by amount. (Although, I’m not even sure what it means to sort by Highest Date when no date range is selected. What is the default date range?)
Here’s the bottom line for me. PC Mastercard has been my primary-use card for many years now. I have it for the PC Points it generates, and use those points to offset my grocery expenses. That’s the value it provides to me. But my time is valuable too. Now, as a result of these website changes, it’s going to cost me more time to track my expenses on this card. The value it provides has been diminished. So, in response, I will shift my transactions over to another card, one where I will spend less time tracking transactions and still get points benefits. One that has a Download to Quicken option.
Please forward this letter to your website management team. I’m sure they will want to hear this feedback.
Sincerely,
Gary Puckering
I am so thrilled to have found this thread. I too have emailed PC though my email was not as concise. I use Microsoft Money still but I was able to import the qif files and I was fuming when i first visited the new site.
Comments
-also older versions as needed for testing
-Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
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- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
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COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
If it was, they would not have proposed the solution and would have discouraged the practice and the sharing of this information.
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
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COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
-also older versions as needed for testing
-Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
Presidents choice mastercard does not offer qfx file import anymore, only csv. Does anyone know if Quicken will add csv file import feature for account transactions? Quicken cash manager 2016 R7 build 25.1.7.1
However, CSV files are missing data. QFX files contain, among other things...
<TRNTYPE>
<DTPOSTED>
<DTUSER>
<TRNAMT>
<FITID>
<SIC>
<NAME>
CSV files contain...
<MERCHANT NAME>
<CARD USED FOR TRANSACTION>
<DATE>
<TIME>
<AMOUNT>
Let's hope PC Financial makes QFX files available again.
DTUSER and SIC aren't needed (OFX standard allows for these not to be included).
The FITID is the unique Id that Quicken uses for determining if this is a new transaction. It can be created by using a hash of the other information, plus a counter that is needed just in case the CSV file has the exact same transaction in it more than once (Like a person paying for a toll to and from work). Or in this case you can use the time in the hash, but normally the time isn't provided.
The rest line up (<TRNTYPE> is just the separator for the transaction):
<DTPOSTED> == <DATE>
<TRNAMT> == <AMOUNT>
<NAME> == <MERCHANT NAME>
Note the account number is put in a different field before the transactions, and Quicken locks into that and other header information to decide what account to import into.
The problem fields are:
<FI>
<ORG>XXXX
<FID>#####
</FI>
<INTU.BID>######
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
I have sent the same msg to PC mastercard and received the same canned response. I also noted to them that their web page is sub standard; no alt tags on buttons is a no-no. You shouldn't have to click on a button to find out what it does (as is the way you find out what the grey "download" button does). You should be able to hover on the button....this goes without saying what the alt tag does for Accessibility for those who are visually impaired.
Needless to say, PC has made a big mistake here....be nice if Quicken can put some pressure on them. Are there other financial software's comparable to Qucken that could be used? Anyone have ideas?
-also older versions as needed for testing
-Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
Canada does not currently have any legislation in place which compels private industry to ensure their services are accessible. But, there is legislation in the works (Bill C-81). The Bank Act contains a regulation on accessibility, but it says nothing about digital access. Ontario Bill 125 (2001) covers government web sites, but not banks. It could use an update — although Ontario is likely just waiting on the Feds to regulate accessibility nationwide via Bill C-81.
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
So it seems that EWC/Quicken Connect is only listed for PC for QMac...wonder if anyone has ever used it.
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
(If you find this reply helpful, please be sure to click "Like", so others will know, thanks.)
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)
-also older versions as needed for testing
-Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian Q user since '92, STILL using QM2007)