How can I have quicken choose the way I receive a 2 factor authorization code?

John44

I can't connect to BankofAmerica credit card because the only option quicken gives me is a text message. I don't have a cell phone. when I login to BOA on the web it gives me a choice of text or phone call. How can I get Quicken to give me a choice? BOA will not let me disable 2 factor authorization.

Boatnmaniac

Quicken gets its 2FA instructions from the financial institution.  There is no setting or preference that can be set for it in Quicken. 

Usually, if the 2FA options being provided by Quicken are incorrect it means that something needs to be changed in the preferences and/or security settings of the online account.  I suggest you log into your online account at BOA and:

• Check to make sure that your home phone number is not saved anywhere as a mobile number.
• Check your 2FA security settings.  Usually banks will allow their customers to select which option(s) are to be used for 2FA.  Make sure the option(s) selected are one(s) that work for you.

Did this resolve the issue for you?

John44

I called BOA and they said my default 2FA should be sent to my email.
Quicken asks the question "How would you like to receive your code?" and only allows 1 option, "Text message: xxx-xxx-8056" which is a land line.
BOA says it is Quicken's problem because the default s/b email. Meanwhile my transactions are not getting downloaded and is reaching the 90 day limit.
What should I do???

Boatnmaniac

As I mentioned before, Quicken does not decide which 2FA communication method to use.  Quicken does not even decide whether or not 2FA is required.  It is the Financial Institution (FI) that tells Quicken what to do in regards to this.

You said that BOA says the default is email.  Every FI has a default method and every FI allows the customer to select at least one other different method.  Since it is showing your land line number for texts, it tells me that your Security settings and/or Profile settings have been changed so that your land line phone number is now the default for you. 

Question:  When you try logging into your online account, where does BOA send your 2FA code to?  Are you getting it via email?

Following is a picture of what another user posted of the BOA settings for security and 2FA.  Note the circled settings...make sure yours are set like this as well. 

Also note that at the bottom it says that BOA will send 2FAs to your cell phone or to your email.  It then says to check your contact settings and provides a link there.  I suggest you log into your online account and check your actual settings since they might be different from what BOA told you is the default.

What you want to make sure of is that nowhere in your online account is your land line saved as a cell phone number.  And you also want to make sure that all notifications and alerts are sent to your email, not to your land line.  If you need BOA assistance on this matter, you might want to consider wording your request similar to this.

I'm sorry but there is absolutely nothing that Quicken can do to override BOA's login and 2FA requirements. 

Regarding the 90-days window:  Until this 2FA issue gets resolved, you have a few options for getting transactions entered into your BOA account.

1. The FIDIR (Financial Institution Directory) list shows that BOA Credit Card does not support Web Connect (WC) which is necessary for being able to manually download transactions from the online account directly into Quicken.  You can confirm this by logging into your online account and checking to see if you are given the option of downloading transactions in QFX (or "Quicken") format.  If you are given that option, select the time period that you want and download in that format.  Then you can import that file directly into Quicken.  Be sure to link it during the import process to the account you already have set up in Quicken.
2. If BOA does not offer manual downloads in QFX format, does it offer manual downloads in QIF, CSV, Excel or OFX format?  If so you might want to explore downloading and installing a freeware program called ImportQIF.  This program can convert files in these formats into something that Quicken can import.  I have not used it myself but others in this community have said it works well. It was developed by a longtime Quicken user who is also an active member of this Community.  You can read up on this freeware program and download it from www.quicknperlwiz.com
3. As a final option, you can manually enter transactions into the register.

None of these options is ideal but they can be a good bridge until the 2FA issue is resolved.

John44

Thanks for all the info. You must be using the app because I can't locate a page that has General Settings. My profile & settings drop down menu looks like this:
Contact Info
Addresses
Phone/Mobile numbers
Email addresses
Contact preferences

Security settings
Security Center
Change User ID
Change Password

Account Settings
Paperless settings
Mobile settings
Alert settings
Account nicknames
Manage card settings
Digital Wallet & Virtual Card

I'm waiting to hear back from BOA. When I log into BOA it gives me choices for Text Message, Phone call or email. Quicken should do likewise.

John44

I can connect fine with [Removed-Solicitation]. It allows me to choose Text or Phone call.
If Quicken cannot resolve soon I will change to [Removed-Solicitation] and save some $$ in the process.

Boatnmaniac

As mentioned above, that picture I posted was something that another user had posted elsewhere.  I do not have a BOA account so I cannot see what the BOA online account navigation options look like.  As such, my comments regarding that were rather generic and were intended to suggest what to look for and what questions to ask.

For the navigation menu you posted, if I were you I would pay special attention to the following ones:

• Contact Info
• Addresses
• Phone/Mobile numbers
• Email addresses
• Contact preference
• Security settings
• Security Center
• Account Settings
• Alert settings
  

A couple of other things you might want to try:

• Which BOA set up link are you using....Bank of America - All Other States, Bank of America - Quicken or Bank of America Credit Card ?  Have you tried setting up the your account with any or all of the others?  I'd read somewhere else that one user said he stopped getting 2FA prompts by switching to another one but I can't remember which one.
  
• Have you tried to run Validate (File > Validate and Repair File).  Validate can repair some program issues so if this issue is caused by some program corruption then maybe it will fix it.
• Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall Quicken?  You might want to review these Support Articles:  https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-uninstall-quicken-windows and https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-download-quicken-quickencom-after-i-buy-it.
• Have you tried creating a new data file (File > New Quicken File)?  Name it TEST (or something unique).  Try adding the BOA account in this new file and see what happens.
  

I know you think this is a Quicken issue but if it were this Community would be seeing a lot of others posting here about it and there really has not been much of that happening.  And as I've said before, Quicken takes 2FA requirements instructions from BOA.  If the program troubleshooting steps I've laid out here don't resolve the issue then it is highly likely there is something in what BOA is downloading to Quicken that is not right and needs to be fixed...either by BOA and/or by you.  Quicken cannot address that.

John44

I'm using BOA Credit Card. Yes it happens on a new quicken file. BTW I'm on an iMac, not windows.
Why does it work on Mint?

Boatnmaniac

Ah, I forgot about this being a Mac thread.  Those options I'd mentioned are still applicable but the paths to get there are likely going to be different.  I don't know much about Mac so I can't help you with that.  Sorry about that.

Mint uses a different protocol and format for connecting with financial institutions.  I'm not sure what the differences are but Quicken is not designed to use that protocol or format....just like Mint is not designed to use the Quicken protocol and format.  I'm just guessing but what BOA downloads via that protocol and format is probably somewhat different from what they download to Quicken.

John44

Looks like someone resolved the problem. Don't know if was Quicken or BOA but I can connect now using my email.
Thanks for everyone's help.

Boatnmaniac

Thanks for posting the status.  Glad to hear the issue is now resolved.  It would be nice to know who and what was done to resolve the issue but the most important thing is it is now working for you.

John44

If I had to make a guess, it would be BOA.