Quicken for Mac causes Discover Bank to lock account

I am receiving emails from Discover Bank (DB) saying my account has been locked due to multiple failed login attempts. I have confirmed with DB Customer Service (DB CS) that the failed attempts were initiated by Quicken.

This occurs even though Quicken has the correct login User Name & Password for the account, and I have tested it in Quicken. I.e., after an Update All Online Accounts, there was a green ball in the Account Status window for each account.

I thought the error may have been associated with the Quicken Mobile app, so I deleted the app from my iPhone & iPad. I also turned off Sync in Quicken Preferences > Mobile, Web & Alerts. That worked for while, but soon the account locks continued.

One DB CS representative said to change the connection type from Quicken Connect to Direct Connect. That too worked for while, but soon the account locks continued.

My wife has never had the issue with her DB account being locked. The only thing different between my DB account and hers is I have under my login 13 separate account, plus a joint account in DB. My wife has only one account plus the joint account.

I’m starting here in the Community for a solution, but I didn’t see any similar history in my search results.

Any ideas?

macOS Mojave 10.14.6 running Quicken Deluxe 6.0.1.

Answers

  • lablover57
    lablover57 Quicken Mac Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
    change your password?
    Quicken User since the DOS days...
  • Kino
    Kino Member ✭✭✭
    Yes, I had to change the password every time Discover Bank locked the account. I then updated the Quicken accounts with the new password. I then successfully tested the Quicken accounts with the new password. Quicken then somehow bricked the Discover Bank online account with failed attempts to log in.
  • lhossus
    lhossus Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta ✭✭✭✭✭
    Change your username!

    It is real easy for a rogue procedure to lock an account by multiple accesses with an incorrect password. But it is extremely unlikely that anything is going to start hitting a new username with multiple accesses.

    Be sure to leave Mobile & Web Sync turned off in preferences. And I would also avoid bill presentment and payment features. At least for a while, in case any of these features are causing the problem. Then turn them back on one at a time so you can tell which one is the culprit.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • macOS Monterey 12.6 on MacBook Pro 13" M1
  • Kino
    Kino Member ✭✭✭
    Thanks, Ihossus.

    Is this "rogue procedure" in and of itself within Quicken for Mac, or are you suggesting a possible access attempt by some other person using Quicken to attempt to access my account?

    I don't see how an incorrect User Name could affect my account, Discover Bank wouldn't recognize it as trying to access my account.

    Mobile & Web Sync is deselected in Quicken Prefs and I don't use Quicken for anything to do with bills. It's basically a set of electronic registers that download transactions.

    The turning off and back on one at a time was what initially led me to believe it was the Mobile app causing this problem. However, now even with the apps deleted from my iDevices and M&WS turned off, I'm still having the account locked for multiple incorrect login attempts.
  • lhossus
    lhossus Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta ✭✭✭✭✭
    Kino said:
    Is this "rogue procedure" in and of itself within Quicken for Mac, or are you suggesting a possible access attempt by some other person using Quicken to attempt to access my account?
    In my uninformed guess, something within the Quicken infrastructure. Something that runs autonomously based on Quicken settings, but then does not stop running when settings are changed.

    The strategy here is not to figure out what is wrong. Rather, you want to move your account aside so it is no longer being accessed by the rogue.

    Kino said:
    I don't see how an incorrect User Name could affect my account, Discover Bank wouldn't recognize it as trying to access my account.
    I am not talking about an incorrect User Name.

    Rather, if you do change the User Name on your Discover Bank account, this rogue process will no longer be able to access it and cause lock outs - since that process continues to use the old original User Name (assuming it has no mechanism to discover the new User Name).

    Kino said:
    Mobile & Web Sync is deselected in Quicken Prefs and I don't use Quicken for anything to do with bills. It's basically a set of electronic registers that download transactions.

    The turning off and back on one at a time was what initially led me to believe it was the Mobile app causing this problem. However, now even with the apps deleted from my iDevices and M&WS turned off, I'm still having the account locked for multiple incorrect login attempts.
    The key thought here is that while you have changed the settings to disable Mobile & Web Sync, there may be a process in the backend of Quicken's infrastructure that has not received the message.

    Once you change the account User Name at the bank, this rogue process should no longer be of concern to you. Perhaps the process will kick up an error that Quicken administrators might see and deal with the process, but that is not your concern.

    And once you have changed the User Name at the bank you will have to deactivate ALL access within Quicken for Mac to your accounts at the bank, then reactivate with the new User Name. 

    Please let us here know how this goes. Your's is not the first report of this problem, but little is known of the cause or even the resolution.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • macOS Monterey 12.6 on MacBook Pro 13" M1
  • Kino
    Kino Member ✭✭✭
    Thanks again, lhossus. I'll give it a shot.
  • Kino
    Kino Member ✭✭✭
    Account access was unlocked by Discover Bank. I then re-connected just one of the Quicken accounts (via Direct Connect, not Quicken Connect) and it's working fine. (As it had done many times in the past before failing and locked the DB access.)

    I'll connect more accounts in Quicken every so often to see what happens and report back here.
  • Kino
    Kino Member ✭✭✭
    I've been taking it (very) slow adding back accounts to test the new User Name theory. Since the last unlock on 11/30, I had reconnected three accounts via Quicken Connect. As it turns out, it probably doesn't have anything to do with the User Name.

    I decided to call DB Customer Service to see if there had been any failed login attempts since 11/30. There had not.

    As I discussed the history of the account locks, the agent said she was very familiar with this issue. Basically, DB recognizes the legitimate owner of an account via login IP address and other methods. (Don’t ask me for details as I’m not a geek.) When Quicken makes the behind-the-scenes update requests, DB sees that it’s not the “customer” and will randomly send a “2nd level verification code” request. (That sounds like a “2FA” thing to me.) Quicken, of course, cannot properly process that request and the result is locked Discover Bank access.

    I mentioned to the rep that I had over ten DB accounts, but with only the three that I had thus far reconnected, I had not experienced a lock on the DB account since 11/30. I asked if the number of accounts Quicken was attempting to update had anything to do with triggering the random 2FA request, but she did not know.

    She said that the feedback she had received from customers was that the only reliable solution was to only make manual updates in the accounts. That is, “Disconnect” the accounts.

    Bummer.
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