Why do I get duplicate transactions downloading into checking account with Online Update (PNC Bank)?

Jkoziarski

I did an online update of my PNC bank account. It went back 3 months and added in "new" transactions that were duplicates of transactions that had already been reconciled. These transactions were scattered over the last three months. The Payee did not match. It was not every transaction. It was probably 10-15/ month (out of 60-70).

Sherlock

Duplicate transactions may appear when the FITID algorithm changes and should be a one time occurrence.  This may occur when the connection method is changed.  If you aren't already, I suggest using the Direct Connect connection method.

If you haven't already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/quicken-downloads-transactions-which-are-duplicates-existing-register-entries

Jkoziarski

Thank you for the quick reply! I do connect via the Web Connect in Quicken. (Is that the same as Direct Connect?) (as opposed to going into my bank account, and downloading from there).

Sherlock

Jkoziarski said:

Thank you for the quick reply! I do connect via the Web Connect in Quicken. (Is that the same as Direct Connect?) (as opposed to going into my bank account, and downloading from there).

No.  If you haven't already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-connects-your-bank

Jkoziarski

Thank you. I reviewed the connection info. It appears that there is no option for Direct Connect for PNC bank.

Sherlock

Jkoziarski said:

Thank you. I reviewed the connection info. It appears that there is no option for Direct Connect for PNC bank.

If you have an ordinary PNC checking account (as opposed to a Virtual Wallet account), you should be able to setup the Direct Connect connection method for your non-Virtual Wallet accounts using PNC Bank - Direct Connect as the financial institution name.  When we did this a few years ago, we needed to fill in an online form at the PNC web site to authorize the use of PNC's OFX server which uses a social security number and a PIN for authentication - not the PNC's web site username and password.  The use of the Direct Connect connection method is free as is the optional online bill payment service.  You just need to put in a bit of effort to have PNC enable the access.

Jkoziarski

I do have the Virtual Wallet Account.

Sherlock

Jkoziarski said:

I do have the Virtual Wallet Account.

If you are not willing to accept the unreliability of the Express Web Connect connection method for the Virtual Wallet accounts, I suggest you use the Web Connect connection method for the Virtual Wallet accounts instead.

Jkoziarski

Hello. (I really appreciate your help on this!). I did the Web Connect again, and again, numerous transactions were duplicated. I was able to check the ID numbers. The numbers did not match. The ones already in my account manually began with "INTUIT-xxxxxx", the downloaded transactions were just numbers, starting with my account number. Is this a PNC issue? Or, should I not try to download anything electronically, and just reconcile my accounts manually? This happened in both Virtual Wallet account (mine and my wife's).

Frankx

Hi @Jkoziarski,

I don't believe that you need to "not try to download anything electronically, and just reconcile my accounts manually" unless the number of transactions that you make in this account is so large that it is impossible to match the transactions downloaded to the entries previously recorded in your register(s). 

I suggest that you don't focus on whether the "ID numbers" match (in fact I would suggest that you ignore them completely) - rather you should just focus on the amounts and related dates of the transactions downloaded to match them with what is recorded in Quicken.  If you do that you should be able to properly reconcile your accounts without any significant problems.  Of course, this assumes that you aren't making numerous transactions each month with the same dates and in the same amounts.

Please get back to me if you have any followups.

Frankx

Jkoziarski

Hi Frank. Thank you for your help. The reason I was commenting about the ID numbers, was because of the reference sent to me earlier as to figuring out why I get duplicate transactions.

https://www.quicken.com/support/quicken-downloads-transactions-which-are-duplicates-existing-register-entries

I have tried both Web Connect and Express Web Connect, and each time I get duplicate transactions downloaded into the register. (That is- I have already manually entered my transactions, yet when downloading, the bank transactions do no match with the downloaded ones, so it inserts them as NEW transactions. In reality, they are duplicates.)

Direct Connect is not available for my accounts. (PNC Bank- Virtual Wallet).

I have used every version of Quicken since it was released. This problem just started a few months ago.

SMG61

I have a regular PNC check account with Direct Connect and have the same issue. Everyday I update the account I get previous transactions.

Frankx

Hi @SMG61,

That, in my experience, is highly unusual. 

Have you been required to disconnect and then reconnect your account from Quicken frequently for some reason?  If so, have you determined why that is?  If not that, can you give us some additional information on what actually may be causing duplicate transactions to download. 

Honestly, direct connect is, in the view of a significant majority of the folks who use Quicken and post here, known to be THE most reliable type of connection available in Quicken.  My personal view is that id Direct Connect were the only connection method in Quicken there would be a reduction of posts to this forum of at least 75%.

All that being said, if you provide us with some more details, we will, as always, do our best to help.

Frankx

Jkoziarski

What details do you need? As I mentioned above- with the Virtual Wallet account at PNC, direct connect is not an option for me. The Web Connect and Express Web connect continue to add in duplicate transactions. I have had to shut off the on line services to all of my PNC accounts (Mine and my wife's) and do everything manually. This is very frustrating. I have had these accounts for 2 years. The problem just started a couple of months ago. Something changed. :(

Frankx

Hi again @Jkoziarski,

Sorry, my last post above was actually directed to another community member (SMG61) who also posted that they were having PNC problems but they use Direct connect.

So this is a followup to my last post to you and is focusing now on your post of today.  I can understand your frustration.  One thing that you should not be doing is to use both Express Web Connect and Web Connect at the same time.  That will only make the situation worse because you are duplicating every transaction the bank has processed for whatever time frame(s) you are working with.  Another thing that you should not do is download any more information until you are able to get the accounts reconciled.

And for now, you are effectively stuck with sorting things out.  I would start with the oldest transactions first and looking at the date and amount of each transaction in your register and matching it to a downloaded transaction on that date or a later date.  Once you get this one register transaction matched - immediately look for other downloaded transactions having the same amount and which cleared around the same date (but not before the register date), and delete those.  Then go to the next dated register transaction and follow the same routine, until you get to the end of the month (or statement end date) and then try to do a reconciliation.

Obviously, you will be deleting a number of duplicate downloaded transactions since you've apparently doubled up on downloads.

I hope this helps.  If you have any followups, let me know.  Also let me know how this all works out.

Frankx

Sherlock

Jkoziarski said:

What details do you need? As I mentioned above- with the Virtual Wallet account at PNC, direct connect is not an option for me. The Web Connect and Express Web connect continue to add in duplicate transactions. I have had to shut off the on line services to all of my PNC accounts (Mine and my wife's) and do everything manually. This is very frustrating. I have had these accounts for 2 years. The problem just started a couple of months ago. Something changed.

The FITID (Financial Institution Transaction IDentifier) field is supposed to be a static unique value for a every transaction.  Different transactions should have different FITID fields.  The same transaction should have the same FITID field.  When we import a transaction into a register, Quicken should remember the FITID field of the transaction even when we do not accept the transaction.  If we attempt to import a transaction with the same FITID field, Quicken should ignore the transaction.  Imported transactions should only appear if the FITID has not been previously imported.

If you are only using the Web Connect connection method, the import of duplicate transactions into the same register is most likely a financial institution's issue.  They may not be generating the QFX file with consistent FITID fields. 

If only using the Web Connect connection method does not import duplicate transactions into the same register but only using the Express Web Connect connection method does import duplicate transactions into the same register, it is most likely an Intuit issue.  They may be screen scraping the transactions and not generating consistent FITID fields.  Contact Quicken Support and request they escalate the issue to Intuit's Express Web Connect script team: https://www.quicken.com/support/quicken-support-options

If you're attempting to use both the Express Web Connect connection method and the Web Connect connection method, the import of duplicate transactions into the same register is most likely your fault.  Different connection methods may generate the FITID fields using different algorithms.

If the FITID fields of the duplicate transactions are the same, the FITID index in the Quicken file may be damaged: https://help.quicken.com/display/WIN/Troubleshoot+a+damaged+Quicken+data+file

Frankx

[removed - violation of community guidelines/off-topic/unhelpful to the OP]

Sherlock

Sherlock said:

Jkoziarski said:

I do have the Virtual Wallet Account.

If you are not willing to accept the unreliability of the Express Web Connect connection method for the Virtual Wallet accounts, I suggest you use the Web Connect connection method for the Virtual Wallet accounts instead.

According to the PNC's current Service Agreement, the Direct Connect connection method should also be available to Virtual Wallet accounts.