How can I fix: Bank txns download with only a hyphen as the Payee

Cooper's Dad

In the past two weeks, all transactions from my bank have downloaded without a payee name in the Accept Downloaded Transactions panel (see image)...just a hyphen where the Payee name should appear. This affects all download accounts at my bank, but not accounts with other institutions.

The Bank is Lake City Bank, which uses a third party as its data processor. Connection is Express Web Connect. Running Quicken for Windows release 36.57, build 27.1.36.57.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Cooper's Dad,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this and for not having received a response yet.

Do you have a recent backup that was saved prior to when this issue started that you can restore? To start with, I suggest restoring a backup file to see if the same issue occurs in the restored file. If needed, please, review this support article. Scroll down until you see Quicken for Windows and open the blue dropdown section(s) titled Restore Quicken data and/or Restore an automatic backup for instructions on how to restore a backup.

I hope this helps!

Cooper's Dad

I've restored backups that are 10, 20 and 30 days old. Of those, only the 30-day-old backup behaved any differently. For that file, downloaded txns that have renaming rules assigned correctly renaming themselves. But those without a renaming rule continue to appear in the Accept Downloaded Txns panel with a hypen and slash instead of the payee name. (This was the one of the three restored backups that required a conversion to the new Quicken cloud data configuration.) I also downloaded transaction history (.qfx format) directly from my bank and that data behaved the same way.

Of note, the backup had a complete list of my 20+ renaming rules, whereas more recent versions contain only 5 or 6 rules: not sure where those rules went off-track.

Quicken Anja

Thank you for following up and providing the additional information.

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

Next, I'd like to have you create a new (test) file to see if you experience the same issue in a new file.

Follow the steps below to create a test file:

1. Choose File menu > New Quicken File.
2. Select New Quicken File.
3. Click OK.
4. In the File name field, enter the name of the new file, then click Save. Use a name like "Test File" to easily be able to tell it apart from your main file. Don't use any of these characters: * ? < > | " : \ / (asterisk, question mark, left and right-angle bracket, pipe, straight quotation marks, colon, BACKSLASH, FORWARD SLASH). Also, don't add the .qdf extension; Quicken does that for you.
5. Sign in with your Quicken ID (if prompted). If you are prompted to create a Quicken ID, click Sign In under the Create Account prompt. 
6. Select to not use Mobile (if prompted).
7. Click Add Account and add the same account you are experiencing this problem with.

After adding account(s), see if you are experiencing the same problem in this test file. From there, you can then switch back to your original file. 

Follow the steps below to switch files:

1. Click the File menu.
2. Look near the bottom of the options list.
3. Select the data file you want to open. 

Quicken will list the most recently opened data files, with a checkmark next to the file you are currently viewing.

Let us know how it goes!

Cooper's Dad

The issue does not exist in the test file; txns download with the correct payees. What does that say about the cause of the issue in my working file, as regards both the downloaded Payees and the missing Renaming Rules?

Cooper's Dad

And thank you for working on this with me!

Quicken Anja

Thank you for trying those steps and confirming the results with me.

If you have already switched back to your original data file, next, I suggest that you try validating and/or super validating your data file. However, I do recommend that you first save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
   
3. Validate File
   
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
   
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
   
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
   
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

Cooper's Dad

Validated and Super Validated, but the issue persists. I even manually rebuilt the missing Renaming Rules (although the issue is not limited to downloaded txns for which a renaming rule should have been applied). I appreciate your continued search for a solution.

Quicken Anja

Thank you for following up, though I'm sorry to hear that the issue continues.

Next, you can try creating a copy of your data file in an attempt to rebuild all of the internal lists and database tables which you would then move forward with the copied file. To create a copy, please navigate to File > Copy or Backup File... > Create a copy or template (see examples below) which will also allow you to select a date range to move forward with.

If you wish to move forward with your entire data file, please check the full data range of your entire data file before copying so you can enter the correct date range if you do not wish to "shrink" your file by eliminating certain dates.





However, it's important to know that doing so will disconnect all online services in the copied file and you will need to sign back in with your Quicken ID and reconnect all of your online accounts, online billers, Quicken Bill Manager services, etc if you plan to use that copied file going forward. The reason for this is that the new copy also creates a new and separate dataset ID which can eliminate certain data file issues that may not always be detected through validating or super validating in the original file.

I hope this helps!

UKR

Based on the image you provided, it appears to me that, at the time these transactions were downloaded, a Renaming Rule was in effect. This Renaming Rule should have been listed under the Payee Name of "-" (without the quotes).

If these transactions still wait to be accepted, what happens if you click the first one, to highlight it, then right-click it to bring up a popup menu? This menu should have a selection to "Revert Payee to original name" (or similar text). What happens if you click this selection? AFAIK, it should restore the original downloaded payee name for this and all other downloaded transaction afflicted by the Renaming Rule. If it does, you should now be able to accept these transactions to a proper Payee Name or match them with an existing register transaction on or about that date.

A Renaming Rule for "-" should be deleted.

Cooper's Dad

Thanks for contributing, UKR. This case is just the opposite of your theory...downloaded txns for which a renaming rule exists and applies ARE recognized as Matches and when accepted, behave properly (i.e., the hyphen is replaced by the renaming rule when the txn is Accepted to the Register). The unwanted behavior is affecting ALL downloaded txns from my bank (seven accounts' worth), regardless of the presence of an associated renaming rule or not. Renaming IS involved in the issue because 20+ of my 30+ rules have disappeared since early November.

UKR

I think it might be time for someone from Quicken Support to review the OFXlog file for downloaded transactions from this bank, to verify that the downloaded transactions arrive with proper Payee Names.

OTOH, especially for transfers, I recommend you always have a manually recorded transaction in your register BEFORE you download transactions from the bank. Might be a good idea to do that for all of the problem transactions, to see what Quicken does when a download arrives: Match / New / "-" or other funny stuff?

Cooper's Dad

Good idea, UKR. I almost always do as you suggest. The image I posted was after I had accepted the error-free matched txns so as not to divert attention away from the problem txns. (I'm not a "lazy" Q user whose data is 100% downloaded; rather, I'm a very hands-on 35-year user who also happens to be a commercial banker at the bank whose txns are the subject of my troubles!). Next Monday being a Bank Holiday (Dr. King's birthday), I'll have time to get on the phone with Support to dive deeper, if Anja's File|Copy suggestion is not fruitful.

Cooper's Dad

Copied file exhibits the same behavior, except that the popups that display the txn information as downloaded the FI have returned. (The information before and after the slash matches the transaction information provided by my FI in its mobile banking app, so the data is coming in correctly, but being mis-processed by Q, which appears to be applying renaming rules that do not exist for these txns.)

UKR

OK, thanks. And what do these transactions look like when viewed at the bank's website? Is there some extra text in front of the "-"?

To get this problem resolved, the people at Quicken need to take a closer look at things.

Cooper's Dad

Screenshots are of the details of two of the recently downloaded txns. The "online description" field is what appears in the downloads review panel before the slash and the "statement description" is what normally follow the slash. Neither contains a hyphen, which seems to suggest that somehow Q is initially trying to apply some renaming process, although the hyphens are spraying both with Renaming turned off and with it turned on. (Neither example in the screenshot above or the two below has Renaming rule that applies.)

Chris_QPW

Given that the connection method is Express Web Connect, my opinion is that this should go to Quicken Support for them to escalate the problem to track down where this problem is.
Contact Quicken Support