Bank Of America Direct Connect Issues Trying to Re-Add account

Stuart Brown

So I have an account that has had direct connect for years. I was getting errors when I tried a one step update like 3 weeks ago so I deactivated online access for the account and tried to re-activate it. I have tried daily for the last three weeks to re-activate the account but Quicken just gives me a connection error message every day. I went on chat with Quicken support and they keep telling me there is a server problem at BOA and it won't let the Quicken servers access the accounts. Meanwhile, I have other accounts at BOA in Quicken that have been working fine with Direct Connect. I just can't re-activate this one account with a different login. Finally after two hours on chat with Quicken support today they tell me that BOA disabled Direct Connect. But the error message from Quicken says nothing about that - it just says "connection error" or something to that effect. In fact, I know from the forums here that BOA only disabled Direct Connect for new accounts, not those that had it in the past. But if I go to the Online Services tab for the account in Quicken, it says "Your Financial Institution offers an improved connection method" (assuming it means Direct Connect) which it does not. But if you try it, all you get is a connection error - a totally misleading error that has kept me trying to re-enable this account for 3 weeks. Quicken needs to fix this error message to be more helpful. I am going to try to call BOA to see if they can re-enable Direct Connect for these accounts. I can't believe it took the Quicken tech 2 hours to figure out this was a known issue with BOA.

Rocket J Squirrel

Ability to use Direct Connect with B of A is tied to the user ID. For the one account with a different ID, have you changed its credentials recently? If you change the user ID, you'll lose Direct Connect.

If all else fails, you might try changing the account's credentials to be the same as those of the accounts which succeed if that is possible.

Stuart Brown

Thanks for your response. I did not change the user id - it has been the same when I had Direct Connect and when I tried to re-establish Direct Connect. I can't change the credentials because it is a different account and can't be aggregated with my working accounts.

brucecorbett

My Direct Connect has failed. It's was like pulling teeth, but after 3 forwards and 15 minute waits, ONLINE and MOBILE SUPPORT (800) 933-6262, admitted that Direct Connect was no longer supported. Express Web Connect demands a Text Capable smart phone, to receive a 6 digit code, which must be entered by hand within 10 minutes. Thus unattended (scheduled) daily updates are impossible if BofA is one of your accounts. The update will wait for response indefinitely.

You will also enjoy having CLEAR an unrequested ALERT every time you provide a connection code.

There are two solutions.
1) So far, only BofA and USAA put me through this denial of access proceedure. I'm sure there may be others. I also have checking accounts at Chase.Com and Schwab.Com. They work instantly and charge no fees yet... Many other Banks can be found that will enable easy Quicken access.
2) QuickBooks software is enabled, due to it's use by small business, even at BofA. It costs more, is more capable than Quicken, and may incur Bank Service fees. 

[Edited to Add Disclaimer - QuickBooks is an accounting software focused on business needs only and does not manage any personal accounts whereas Quicken is a personal finance management software dedicated to personal finance needs]

Rocket J Squirrel

Direct Connect still works for me. I just tried the experiment of creating a new Quicken file and adding my 2 accounts at Bank of America-All Other States. It failed, stating my credentials were wrong.

Then I remembered the hoop I had to jump through: B of A's Quicken verification step. I logged on to B of A's web site not using my stored user name, but typed in my user name. Then B of A prompted me to sign in to Quicken within 10 minutes. When I repeated the process of adding my accounts, it succeeded.

skraft3625

Did you ever find a solution? I'm having the same issue

Rocket J Squirrel

skraft3625 said:

Did you ever find a solution? I'm having the same issue

The solution is in the post immediately above yours. Log in to the B of A web site and confirm Quicken access.

Stuart Brown

I tried again today with a new Quicken file and it still won't let me add my account (CC-502) so I think it will only work it you had Direct Connect on the account before. Otherwise you can't add the account - you have to manually add it and use web download for transactions then import into Quicken.

John West

Where in the Bank of America website do I find the place to confirm Quicken access?

evonderheyden

I had the same problem when I changed my BOA password. BOA customer service could not help. They do not have Quicken support. They do have a notice on their website: "Please note: Quicken DirectConnect is no longer supported for new users. You can easily download information from Online Banking to Quicken using Web Connect." I'm not a new user though - just changed my password. I tried the solution above, even creating a new Quicken file. But I did not get the confirmation pop-up as described above. Any other tips on as to how to get that prompt?

bullmoon

same boat - my old BoA accounts download fine, but a new one I added wouldn't accept direct connect so I used the "BoA - Quicken" and now it continues to prompt me for a text code, not once, but twice every time I do an update - very annoying.

MHuck

:) I had the same annoying problem. I followed the above advice of Rocket J Squirrel. I added account, used the advance options to choose Direct Connect, put in my user and pw, it didn't work, then logged in directly to BofA and got the message that Rocket showed, clicked ok then went back and tried Quicken again and it worked. At least so far.

MHuck

Before attempting, you need to deactivate all the accounts for BofA before trying. All need to be deactivated can't leave any

MintUserNew

I was looking at what MHuck did but I can't figure out where Advanced Options are connecting an account.

Rocket J Squirrel

MintUserNew said:

I was looking at what MHuck did but I can't figure out where Advanced Options are connecting an account.

At the bottom of the Add Account dialog.