Direct Connect Bank Bill Pay Payments out of Sync (edited for clarification)

BOB139

I switched my Wells Fargo checking account from Express Connect to Direct connect and am attempting to use bill pay through quicken.

When I call up the Online Payee List it is out of sync with Wells Fargo's website bill pay. In addition there are many duplicate entries. At one point I had tried to use this with Chase and believe it could be getting mixed up.

I attempted to setup some bill payments and they are showing as sent with a check number, but do not show up on Wells Fargo bill pay even after several hours.

Boatnmaniac

@BOB139 - When you first tried using DC Bank Bill Pay with Wells Fargo, did you first create new Online Payee(s) in Quicken for use with Wells Fargo?  The Payees you might have previously set up in your online Wells Fargo account will not download and sync with Quicken's Online Payees.  The payees need to be set up as new Online Payees in Quicken and then during OSU they will be uploaded to Wells Fargo and create a link between your WF account and your Online Payee in Quicken.  It doesn't work in the reverse.

Also, you cannot use the same Online Payee(s) for one account in Quicken with a different account in Quicken.  At least I have never been able to do that. When I had DC Bank Bill Pay set up with Compass Bank and I then later set up DC Bank Bill Pay with Regions Bank I needed to set up new Online Payees for use with Regions.   And when PNC acquired BBVA and merged BBVA into their system PNC told us we would need to delete all the Online Payees we had previously set up for BBVA and then set up new Online Payees for use with PNC.

BTW, I have a family member I manage finances for.  She has a Wells Fargo checking account and I have DC Bank Bill Pay set up with WF in Quicken.  I haven't used their DC Bank Bill Pay for a while but it used to work quite well for me.  I did my first DC Bank Bill Pay with them a couple of days ago and I should know by the 22nd or so if it still works well.

What I don't like about using DC Bank Bill Pay with both WF and with PNC is that, unlike other banks I've had DC Bank Bill Pay set up with, the Online Payees generated in Quicken do not show up in the online accounts.  Also, the DC Bank Bill Pay transactions do not show up in the online account register until after the payments have been fully transacted which is disconcerting because you cannot get confirmation from the online bank account that the payments are actually scheduled and processed. 

The only confirmation you will get from WF that a bill pay has been successfully scheduled is from within Quicken. 

• In the transaction that is in the WF account there will be a check number that was downloaded, there will be a lightning bolt just to the right of the check number and if you click on the check number field you can click on "Status" to see the payment status.
• You can also go to Online Center, select Wells Fargo and click on the Payments tab.
  

Boatnmaniac

@BOB139 - Good, it sounds like it's working for you.

BTW, that "wait 5 days" is probably because WF is mailing a check to the biller instead of doing an ACH transfer.  When setting up a bill pay with WF (and most of the banks I've had bill pay with) the date entered for payment is the date the biller is scheduled to receive the payment, not necessarily the date WF sends the payment.  With ACH transfers the lead-time is usually about 3 business days but when the payment is made by mailed check the lead-time is usually 5 business days.  The bank determines which method of payment is to be used.  If they have the biller's routing and account number set up in their system they will send it by ACH.  If the biller's routing and account number is not in their system or if a different there is something about the Payee set up that they can't match to what is in their system then they will mail a check.

Quicken Jared

BOB139 said:

I switched my Wells Fargo checking account from Express Connect to Direct connect and am attempting to use bill pay through quicken.

When I call up the Online Payee List it is out of sync with Wells Fargo's website bill pay. In addition there are many duplicate entries. At one point I had tried to use this with Chase and believe it could be getting mixed up.

I attempted to setup some bill payments and they are showing as sent with a check number, but do not show up on Wells Fargo bill pay even after several hours.

Hello @BOB139,    

I am sorry to hear about these issues with online payees and duplicates. Thank you for bringing this matter before the Quicken Community.

I do have some additional questions about the problem. Are you noticing the duplicate entries in the register, or in the Bills & Income tab? Also, what is the discrepancy between the Online Payee list and Wells Fargo's bill payment, exactly? Lastly, do your bill payments post successfully, even later than expected? Be sure to let us know if you are being troubled by any error messages at any point when observing these symptoms.

I hope to hear back from you about these problems, and I intend to continue working with you on this issue in the future, if necessary.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared

BOB139

I don't use this new bill thing from Quicken

Under Tools > Online Payee List I see the duplicate and missing billers

Do my bill payments post successfully? I don't know I sent some tests for the soonest date which is March 18th.

Which bank works best with direct connect bill pay?

Quicken Jared

BOB139 said:

I don't use this new bill thing from Quicken

Under Tools > Online Payee List I see the duplicate and missing billers

Do my bill payments post successfully? I don't know I sent some tests for the soonest date which is March 18th.

Which bank works best with direct connect bill pay?

@BOB139,           

Thank you for providing additional information. I do apologize for any confusion.

First, save a backup by going to File > Copy or Backup File in the upper menu at the top of the screen. Next, what happens when you select one of the duplicate billers in the Memorized Payee List and click Delete?

Various financial institutions make use of the Direct Connect connection method. There is no one bank or credit union that makes use of it better than the others. If you are wondering about which financial institutions are currently being reported as having known connection issues, the thread category below can be followed for updates about this:

https://community.quicken.com/categories/alerts

I hope this is helpful, and I look forward to hearing more from you regarding this issue.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

BOB139

This has nothing to do with my memorized payee list. Is is the online payee list.

Boatnmaniac

@BOB139 - When you first tried using DC Bank Bill Pay with Wells Fargo, did you first create new Online Payee(s) in Quicken for use with Wells Fargo?  The Payees you might have previously set up in your online Wells Fargo account will not download and sync with Quicken's Online Payees.  The payees need to be set up as new Online Payees in Quicken and then during OSU they will be uploaded to Wells Fargo and create a link between your WF account and your Online Payee in Quicken.  It doesn't work in the reverse.

Also, you cannot use the same Online Payee(s) for one account in Quicken with a different account in Quicken.  At least I have never been able to do that. When I had DC Bank Bill Pay set up with Compass Bank and I then later set up DC Bank Bill Pay with Regions Bank I needed to set up new Online Payees for use with Regions.   And when PNC acquired BBVA and merged BBVA into their system PNC told us we would need to delete all the Online Payees we had previously set up for BBVA and then set up new Online Payees for use with PNC.

BTW, I have a family member I manage finances for.  She has a Wells Fargo checking account and I have DC Bank Bill Pay set up with WF in Quicken.  I haven't used their DC Bank Bill Pay for a while but it used to work quite well for me.  I did my first DC Bank Bill Pay with them a couple of days ago and I should know by the 22nd or so if it still works well.

What I don't like about using DC Bank Bill Pay with both WF and with PNC is that, unlike other banks I've had DC Bank Bill Pay set up with, the Online Payees generated in Quicken do not show up in the online accounts.  Also, the DC Bank Bill Pay transactions do not show up in the online account register until after the payments have been fully transacted which is disconcerting because you cannot get confirmation from the online bank account that the payments are actually scheduled and processed. 

The only confirmation you will get from WF that a bill pay has been successfully scheduled is from within Quicken. 

• In the transaction that is in the WF account there will be a check number that was downloaded, there will be a lightning bolt just to the right of the check number and if you click on the check number field you can click on "Status" to see the payment status.
• You can also go to Online Center, select Wells Fargo and click on the Payments tab.
  

BOB139

Wells Fargo bill pay through Quicken is 2 for 3

Electronic payment posted (not sure why they make you wait 5 days)
American Express
Navy Federal Credit Union

First Bank of Omaha -- check cleared account, but payment not posted.

Boatnmaniac

@BOB139 - Good, it sounds like it's working for you.

BTW, that "wait 5 days" is probably because WF is mailing a check to the biller instead of doing an ACH transfer.  When setting up a bill pay with WF (and most of the banks I've had bill pay with) the date entered for payment is the date the biller is scheduled to receive the payment, not necessarily the date WF sends the payment.  With ACH transfers the lead-time is usually about 3 business days but when the payment is made by mailed check the lead-time is usually 5 business days.  The bank determines which method of payment is to be used.  If they have the biller's routing and account number set up in their system they will send it by ACH.  If the biller's routing and account number is not in their system or if a different there is something about the Payee set up that they can't match to what is in their system then they will mail a check.

BOB139

Great news! The payment that didn't go through was because it was an old card number from 2017.

So that means Quicken itself maintains the online payee list and this entry was from when I attempted payments with Chase Direct Connect a while back.