American Express Blue Cash Preferred online balance shown in Quicken is incorrect

mskemble

The online balance provided when I update my account is not correct and does not match what I see when I log on the American Express website. The balance shown in Quicken on the recon screen shows it was updated on today's date, yet the balance shown does not match the website.

mskemble

After my statement cycled, the online balance downloaded changed to the correct amount.

Boatnmaniac

Does your online account show "pending" transactions that are not yet posted?  Many FIs will download online balances that take into account the value of the pending transactions even though the pending transactions will not be downloaded until they have posted.

Rocket J Squirrel

I just looked at my Blue card and Quicken's online balance is correct and matches the AmEx web site.

Interestingly, the web site does show one pending transaction, but it is correctly not included in the balance.

@mskemble can you identify the amount of the discrepancy and connect it to any transaction(s)?

mskemble

It does not appear to have any relation to pending transactions. My amex shows a balance of $1094.73 which does not include the single pending transaction for $69.70. My quicken balance also shows $1094.73 prior to the pending transaction. When I click balances in the recon screen it states "Onlne balance as of Apr 11 2021, $2481.10. My statement cycles on 4/11, I'll check it again after the cycle.

mskemble

After my statement cycled, the online balance downloaded changed to the correct amount.

Boatnmaniac

mskemble said:

After my statement cycled, the online balance downloaded changed to the correct amount.

It sounds like it may have been a timing issue.  It is not all that uncommon, especially over weekends and holidays where Quicken gets the information from the FI while the FI's servers are in the middle of updating so the data that gets downloaded is a bit of old data and a bit of new data making things look out of sync.  This is primarily an issue with Express Web Connect accounts but has also been observed with some accounts that are set up with Direct Connect.  Usually waiting until the next business day to update the accounts will resolve the issue.  I'm am glad to hear your issue is resolved.