Discover Card Problems - FYI

Bill Huber

Earlier this month, I started having problems getting my Discover Card transactions. I was getting my checking and savings account transactions but not the credit card transactions. There was no error, but it kept saying that there were zero transactions downloaded. I tried to set up the online services again, and Discover Bank did not show my credit card account. I fixed my credit card problem by selecting Discover Card as the financial institution and using the same user-id and password I am using for the Discover Bank account.

splasher

With Discover Card, you definitely want to pick "Discover Card", NOT "Discover Card Account Center", you also should select "Advanced Options" so that you can select Direct Connect.

You can check which connection method you have on the Account List (Tools menu).

fly.fisher

should have left direct connect to discover card working -- damn if I am going to use any cloud services

splasher

Well, Discover Bank/Card announced that they will be dropping Direct Connect and changing the EWC to EWC+.  Some user have had to change already.

Jon

I got the notice to switch this evening when I tried to update. I opted to disconnect the account instead.

Quicken Jared

Hello everyone,

We apologize for any confusion regarding the recent changes to Discover accounts. Thank you for discussing this here on the Quicken Community.

To be clear, the current connection method for Discover accounts would be simply 'Express Web Connect' rather than the 'Express Web Connect +' method. 

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

digitalmediaphile

>
> To be clear, the current connection method for Discover accounts would be simply 'Express Web Connect' rather than the 'Express Web Connect +' method. 
>

Why are all these FI's changing to the less secure EWC?
Does Quicken charge these banks for customers who use Direct Connect and is this the reason why major FI's are dropping Direct Connect?

Where is official information posted on the Discover and Quicken web sites of this change?

splasher

digitalmediaphile said:

…Does Quicken charge these banks for customers who use Direct Connect and is this the reason …

Yes, there is a fee.  Why change?  Your guess is as good as mine, but probably the same.

digitalmediaphile

> @splasher said:
> Yes, there is a fee.  Why change?  Your guess is as good as mine, but probably the same.

My guess is that Quicken is raising those fees and the FI's are saying "enough". I suspect that there will be more and more FI's not willing to "pay along" and we will see more and more of this.

Jon

EWC requires more work on the part of Quicken/Intuit than DC; I have a hard time believing they charge a higher licensing fee for DC.

splasher

digitalmediaphile said:

> @splasher said:
> Yes, there is a fee.  Why change?  Your guess is as good as mine, but probably the same.

My guess is that Quicken is raising those fees and the FI's are saying "enough". I suspect that there will be more and more FI's not willing to "pay along" and we will see more and more of this.

You are missing a major player in this, Intuit.  Intuit is the middle man, implementer and aggregator of the connection interfaces.  Intuit is the one that charges the FI.  Quicken in turn pays a fee to Intuit for that service, so Intuit is getting money from both sides.

digitalmediaphile

> @splasher said:
> You are missing a major player in this, Intuit.  Intuit is the middle man, implementer and aggregator of the connection interfaces.  Intuit is the one that charges the FI.  Quicken in turn pays a fee to Intuit for that service, so Intuit is getting money from both sides.

True, but I'm paying for a product from Quicken. And now I have to use a less secure connection method (aggregation through additional servers) - and I'd like an official explanation from Quicken on why these FI's/Quicken are degrading their connections. Reference https://www.intuit.com/partners/fdp/implementation-support/ofx/why-connect/connectivity-types/

"Direct Connect - contract with Intuit or your OFX/Online Banking Provider is required

Direct Connect is one of two automatic update options that communicates directly with your OFX servers. End users do not need to log in directly to your online banking site to use this connectivity type. Once connected, updates will occur when the end user initiates a new download request from within the product. Direct Connect is the only two-way communication connectivity type, so additional services such as Bill Pay and in-product transfers can be supported. Check with your OFX/Online Banking Provider to see if these additional features are available.

Products that support Direct Connect: QuickBooks Desktop and Quicken

Aggregation (Express Web Connect in Quicken) - contract with your OFX/Online Banking Provider might be required

Aggregation is the second of two automatic update options. Unlike Direct Connect which communicates directly with your OFX servers, Aggregation retrieves transactions from your online banking site. Intuit creates and manages this connectivity type when you have a contracted Web Connect or Direct Connect BID. Please check with your OFX/Online Banking Provider to make sure aggregation is supported by your OLB site.

Products that support Aggregation: QuickBooks Win/Mac 2022, QuickBooks Online, Mint and Quicken* (*referred to as Express Web Connect in Quicken)

"

Chris_QPW

It has been stated long ago that Intuit gets money from the financial institutions for support of Direct Connect and none for Express Web Connect or Express Web Connect +.  This is really old information and at this point no one really knows what Intuit charges for Direct Connect.  I might add the old statements were that Intuit also charged for Web Connect (downloading/importing a QFX file).  I have heard rumors both ways, charges, doesn't charge.

But in reality, the financial institutions will be paying extra for Direct Connect even if Intuit doesn't charge anything.  They have to maintain a OFX server.  That probably is on an already existing server, but it is other software that has to be supported, at the server, and customer support levels.

The industry is mostly using aggregation these days and as such Direct Connect/OFX is now the exception not the rule.  And so the financial institution definitely will reduce costs by not having to maintain it.

When all the credit unions started dropping Direct Connect in favor of just using Express Web Connect they definitely stated the reason is because it wasn't fair to most of their customers to pay for this service for such small percentage of their users.

digitalmediaphile

> @Chris_QPW said:
>
> When all the credit unions started dropping Direct Connect in favor of just using Express Web Connect they definitely stated the reason is because it wasn't fair to most of their customers to pay for this service for such small percentage of their users.

Not sure how customers are paying the banks for this service.

Chris_QPW

digitalmediaphile said:

> @Chris_QPW said:
>
> When all the credit unions started dropping Direct Connect in favor of just using Express Web Connect they definitely stated the reason is because it wasn't fair to most of their customers to pay for this service for such small percentage of their users.

Not sure how customers are paying the banks for this service.

1. Some financial institutions charge their customers a monthly fee for Direct Connect, but none charge for Express Web Connect.
2. Quicken Inc pays Intuit for "connection services", which includes Web Connect, Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, and Express Web Connect +.  Part of what you pay Quicken Inc for, is this payment to Intuit.  

digitalmediaphile

> @Chris_QPW said:
> * Some financial institutions charge their customers a monthly fee for Direct Connect, but none charge for Express Web Connect.
> * Quicken Inc pays Intuit for "connection services", which includes Web Connect, Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, and Express Web Connect +.  Part of what you pay Quicken Inc for, is this payment to Intuit.  

Refocusing this - Discover never charged for DC and in fact encouraged it. I'm interested in what/who caused this change. Looking for transparency from Quicken on this. Yes, I know that part of the yearly subscription fee is for this.

Jon

digitalmediaphile said:

> @Chris_QPW said:
>
> When all the credit unions started dropping Direct Connect in favor of just using Express Web Connect they definitely stated the reason is because it wasn't fair to most of their customers to pay for this service for such small percentage of their users.

Not sure how customers are paying the banks for this service.

A credit union is a non-profit co-op, so everything it pays for is ultimately paid for by the members (who are the account holders) through fees, higher interest rates on loans, or lower interest rates on deposits. 

Chris_QPW

digitalmediaphile said:

> @Chris_QPW said:
> * Some financial institutions charge their customers a monthly fee for Direct Connect, but none charge for Express Web Connect.
> * Quicken Inc pays Intuit for "connection services", which includes Web Connect, Direct Connect, Express Web Connect, and Express Web Connect +.  Part of what you pay Quicken Inc for, is this payment to Intuit.  

Refocusing this - Discover never charged for DC and in fact encouraged it. I'm interested in what/who caused this change. Looking for transparency from Quicken on this. Yes, I know that part of the yearly subscription fee is for this.

This comment was made by lead administrator of this forum.  It was posted in reference Bank of America changing over to Express Web Connect +, but it pertains just as much to Express Web Connect.


Quicken Inc is a small company and can't tell any given financial institution to do anything.  Even Intuit, which is much larger and is Quicken Inc's aggregator can't dictate to a financial institution.

BLT99

So...trying to do my monthly transaction download for September activity.....how do I re-establish a working connection from Quicken to my Discover credit card amount? I tried to download from my register without success, so I reset within the account list. When I try to reset, I get no option to change FI, it automatically wants to go Discover Card Account Center (no option for Discover Card), then goes through the gyrations and resets the account but still no transactions have downloaded and Account List says the new connection is Web Express Connect. I have repeated this several times, still no transactions downloaded. I welcome working solutions please.

Chris_QPW

BLT99 said:

So...trying to do my monthly transaction download for September activity.....how do I re-establish a working connection from Quicken to my Discover credit card amount? I tried to download from my register without success, so I reset within the account list. When I try to reset, I get no option to change FI, it automatically wants to go Discover Card Account Center (no option for Discover Card), then goes through the gyrations and resets the account but still no transactions have downloaded and Account List says the new connection is Web Express Connect. I have repeated this several times, still no transactions downloaded. I welcome working solutions please.

Go to the Account Details -> Online Services tab.  Deactivate the account for downloading.  The do Tools -> Add Account.  From there go through the setup for Discover and make sure you link to the existing account in the dialog that shows you the online accounts.

christopherjhoh

Nothing works! I have been on the phone with support twice in the past couple months; they get it to work one time and then it fails again. Same problem as others — online balance is updated, but transactions fail to download. Have tried with Discover Bank, Discover Card, and Disocover Credit Card Center. Have reset, canceled and re-established, everything suggested. Only connection option is Quicken Connect. Direct Connect appears but is grayed out. Supposedly it's Quicken DELUXE, 6.9.0, up-to-date. Meanwhile, Discover Bank loan and other cards and accounts all work fine. So fault seems to lie with Discover, not Quicken, but they should figure out how to consult and resolve the problem.

splasher

christopherjhoh said:

Nothing works! I have been on the phone with support twice in the past couple months; they get it to work one time and then it fails again. Same problem as others — online balance is updated, but transactions fail to download. Have tried with Discover Bank, Discover Card, and Disocover Credit Card Center. Have reset, canceled and re-established, everything suggested. Only connection option is Quicken Connect. Direct Connect appears but is grayed out. Supposedly it's Quicken DELUXE, 6.9.0, up-to-date. Meanwhile, Discover Bank loan and other cards and accounts all work fine. So fault seems to lie with Discover, not Quicken, but they should figure out how to consult and resolve the problem.

User refers to Quicken Connect (Mac download method) but is in a Windows category.  It is about the sad state of affairs that exits with the Discover downloads so it is same topic, just wrong OS.

owl1161

I have the same problem. The last date transactions downloaded were 10.4.2022. After that Quicken shutdown the importing of Pending transactions. I wonder if that related.
I created a new file, added my Discover Card account, and transactions downloaded. So it can be done! Now, Quicken, please just do it with my existing Discover Card account in my "real" Quicken file.

Mike2

When Quicken asked me to update things I did, and it SEEMED to be okay, but it wouldn't download any transactions from 'discoverbank'.  Took a bit to change it to 'discovercard' (deactivate downloads and change the financial institution).  I have both a discover bank account and discover card.  In the past they seemed to download together but now seem to be separate.  Works now that I changed the credit card to different financial institution (discover card vs. discover bank)