Options for US Bank Downloads

darrelplant

Up until the past couple of weeks, the US Bank site (www.usbank.com) has allowed a variety of file type downloads, including QFX, but the recent site redesign now has only CSV as an option, and the CSV file it exports won't import into Quicken (Deluxe, MacOS, 6.0.1). Theoretically, I could pay them $4/month per account to link them directly, but in the short term, has anyone found a workaround to import their CSV files?

jrich75

As I said, I am still doing EWC downloads from US Bank on Windows.  I just completed one yesterday which correctly downloaded December annuity deposits so there does not seem to be a format issue with that type of download.

MontanaKarl

I'm confused as to why you want to download directly from the US Bank web site vs having your account set up within Quicken for transaction downloads?  I just checked, and QMac 2021 / version 6.0.1 supports direct downloads from US Bank - via PFM Direct Connect.  My Mac file doesn't have any US Bank accounts for me to test... but the exact same download settings in another file that I have in QWin downloads without a hitch (I have a US Bank credit card linked over there).  No monthly fee.

The only time I've seen monthly fees has been with business accounts, and most often business accounts with Quickbooks rather than Quicken.

jrich75

darrelplant said:

I could pay them $4/month per account to link them directly

@MontanaKarl
 As @darrellplant said, US Bank Direct connect costs $4 per month for personal accounts. I am still using Express Web Connect and have been able to update successfully on Windows.  Is that not the case on Mac?

jrich75

I just checked the US Bank website help page which was update recently.  Seems to have a bit of miss information:

How do I download my account history into Financial Management software or Excel?

Transactions can be downloaded in 90 day increments using Excel (csv) format. To download your transactions, follow these steps:

1. Select My Accounts at the top of the page, then choose the account you want to view the transaction history for. 
2. Select Download Transactions. 
3. Choose the date range, then select Download.

While the option to download transactions is currently available in CSV format only, you can import these files into Quicken and Quickbooks if that's the program you wish to use. 

The option to download transactions is only available on the full usbank.com website. This option is not available on mobile banking.

darrelplant

Unfortunately, the only CSV import option in Quicken Mac is for "Mint.com (CSV)", so if you try to import the US Bank-exported CSV, you get an error saying "Quicken can only import text files that have been exported from the Mint.com web site."

This is totally an issue with US Bank's site for downgrading features they've had for years either by neglect or because they're tryting to drive business to the $4/month Direct Connect. And who's to say whether that's working properly now?

jacobs

I think you (and other US Bank users) need to contact US Bank to tell them their new and improved site is unacceptable because CSV files do not work with Quicken. They will either listen to customers and create a way to download .qfx files again, or they have decided they don't want the bother of supporting such downloads. If the latter persists, then I'm afraid your choice is to pay the $4/month, switch banks, or switch personal finance software. There's nothing Quicken can do to fix the situation. (Well, they could allow importing CSV files, but they've been adamantly against doing so for a number of reasons for the better part of two decades, so that's unlikely to change.)

jrich75

@darrelplant
How does Quicken Connect work on a Mac?  I thought it was similar to Express Web Connect on Windows: ie. Quicken scrapes the data from your US Bank account and provides it is the correct format for an update.  Is that an option you've tried?

darrelplant

I wasn’t aware of it, but the instructions make it sound as if it’s automating the data download, not scraping the pages. I’ll give it a shot, but if the proper data format isn’t provided, it could break EWC/QC.

jrich75

As I said, I am still doing EWC downloads from US Bank on Windows.  I just completed one yesterday which correctly downloaded December annuity deposits so there does not seem to be a format issue with that type of download.

darrelplant

Just gave it a shot and it seems to be working on my Mac. Thanks for pointing out that option. Maybe they decided that not enough people were using the manual Download option, but it would be nice if they'd updated their FAQ.

darrelplant

> @jacobs said:
> I think you (and other US Bank users) need to contact US Bank to tell them their new and improved site is unacceptable because CSV files do not work with Quicken.

Believe me, I did that. They tried to palm off the problem onto Quicken, but I pointed out it was they who had downgraded the abilities of their own site.

It appears for now that I can use the Quicken Connect functionality (which I didn't know about) to auto-import the data rather than manually downloading QFX files and importing them, but this isn't listed as an option on US Bank's FAQ for Quicken, so I wasn't aware it was possible until I checked here. Anyway, all thanks to @jrich75!