Salem Five Bank Direct Connect integration

RickO

This post is in the category of "kudos" in case it's helpful to anyone else. I'm in the process of changing over from a local bank to Salem Five Bank for my checking/savings accounts. I am really impressed with how tight Salem's free Direct Connect integration with Quicken performs. A couple of examples:

1. When I put in an intra-bank transfer from savings to checking, it is reflected on the bank's website immediately after connecting. On the very next connection a minute later, the transaction is reflected in Quicken as cleared. No waiting for an overnight update cycle. The funds are available in the destination account immediately.
2. I just paid a bill using D/C Bank Bill Pay. I realized a few minutes later that I wanted it paid a few days after the date I transmitted from Quicken. When I tried to change the date in Quicken, it told me, of course, that I must cancel and re-send the transaction. However, the scheduled payment was reflected on Salem's website immediately. I edited the date on the website. When I came back to Quicken and did an update a minute later, the new date was reflected immediately in Quicken.
3. Side note: all of the Bank Bill Pay payees that I had set up in Quicken from the former bank still work. I did not need to set them up again.

This is all much better than the D/C performance of my previous bank and I suspect better than most.