Truist (formerly SunTrust\BB&T and Quicken DirectConnect

denmarfl

Several large banks have announced that DirectConnect will be Terminated and converted to EWC+.  This chnage takes away Uploading Bill Pay and Transfers using Quicken.

I have been researching Banks that are still suing Quicken and DirectConnect....Truist is a bank that still has Quicken DirectConnect.

Anyone using Truist using Quicken DirectConnect...I would appreciate some feedback regarding your Experiences.

Bill Pay....
1)do you create your Payee at the banks Website (ie name\addrss\Account Number) and than that Payee gets downloaded in the Quicken Software to be used?
2) In Quicken you would go to PAYEES, select the Payee you want to pay, enter the Amount to be Paid and the date to pay it?
3) After entering infro ...you Upload the Bill Pay request by performing a One Step Update?
4) Payees are both Electronic and some are mailed checks?  Electronic payees are paid in 1 or 2 days.  Check paymnet 3 to 4 days?
5) Does Truist limit how many Payments you can make per Statement Cycle....and extra charge for payments exceeding that?

Transfers between your Accts at Truist
1) If you have more than 1 acct at truist....you enter the Transfer in the Quicken software and than perform a One Step Upgrade to uplaod that Transfer request to Turist...and it is done real time?

Any knowlwdge of truist terminating Quicken DirectConnect?

And of course any other feedback would be appreciated.   Thank You

Boatnmaniac

I don't use Truist but a couple of things you might find of interest if you weren't already aware:

• Truist Direct Connect — Quicken

• I believe Truist does charge a monthly fee for DC:  $7.95/month for personal accounts and $9.95/month for business accounts.

I currently have DC Bank Bill Pay set up with PNC Bank and Midland States Bank.  They do not charge a monthly fee for DC and Bank Bill Pay (except PNC does charge ~$2.50/month for business accounts) and there are no limits on the number of payments that can be made.

EWC+ is something that many financial institutions are wanting to cut in as a replacement for DC and EWC.  It started last Nov with Schwab.  Then in Mar/Apr PayPal cut it in.  Chase is cutting it in during Aug-Sep and now BofA has started cutting it in.  The only thing I have been told is that other financial institutions will be following suit but which ones and the schedules have not been provided.  Is it possible that Truist, PNC and/or Midland will be switching to EWC+?  Absolutely, but it is also possible they might not.  And if they do switch there is no telling when that will happen...it could be later this year or next year or the year after or.....   So, you should be prepared for the possibility that after switching to Truist you will at some point need to switch to another bank that will still offer DC with Bank Bill Pay.

denmarfl

My Plan was....keep BofA Accts open with Min Deposits needed to waive all fees.  Give Truist a shot...   I have Truist Bill Pay and Quicken DC...Free.  But, I created a Chase CC Bill pay at Truist's website.  I then entered what I will call a Test Payment ..to this Chase Card CC (Amt $1.00).  I connected with Quicken to truist...OSU showed I was sending a Payment request to truist and showed the Truist Bill Pay checking Acct.....OSU Summary showed the Payment sent and ready for Payment on the date I selected.  But, the truist Website looking at this Payee..does not show the Payment as pending...it does not display the Payment at all.  Speaking with a Truist Digital Online Agent, they have no clue and directed me to Quicken.  Quicken cann tell me nor find out anything about why this payment isn't showing up at the Truist Site.  I have been sweep into a grove with my current Bank that is dropping DC for EWC+ and now it does not seems trying Truists' Bill Pay with Quicken may not be working.   And to top all this off, I get the Quicken Update email outlining all the great things that have taken place with Quicken from Eric Dunn....and his attempt to build up this great EWC+ connection..which to me...is probably a Deal breaker for continuing to Pay for a Q Subscription if I cannot use a banks Bill Pay using Quicken.  I don't need a software that is simply a Dumping of information...which to me is what EWC+ is....if I must go to the banks website to enter Bill Pays and Transfers, I may as well just see the Cleared Transactions at the website as well.   I simply don't see this as a Positive change.....

Boatnmaniac

You are not alone in feeling that EWC+ is a step backward compared to DC.  I, too, view DC Bank Bill Pay as being one of the more important Quicken features and if/when my banks convert to EWC+ Quicken will have some less value for me.  But I also value other features of Quicken a lot, as well, such as Lifetime Planner, Tax Planner, Tax Reports, Spending Reports, Budgeting, Investment Reports, Net Worth tracking and Assets tracking.  So, will I continue to use Quicken if/when my banks convert to EWC+?  Probably.  I've already made a lot of changes to how I pay bills so I don't really use the DC Bank Bill Pay feature but maybe only 2-4 times each month now.  For that, if I have to, I will log into my online bank account and set up the payments there.

The fact of the matter is that EWC+ is Quicken's response to a new connection protocol that has been developed by some of the biggest names in the financial industry and it is they who are pushing for the change to EWC+.  I have been told that the Financial Institutions that have cut in and are planning to cut in EWC+ have essetially given Quicken and other personal financial software companies an ultimatum...either get on board with the new protocol or tell your customers they will no longer be able to download from them.  If this is correct, what is Quicken supposed to do other than comply?

Regarding Truist:  If after you completed the test bill pay command in Quicken the transaction shows in the Quicken Truist account register (with the lightening bolt and the status information), then it is highly likely that the payment will be processed as directed and after it is actually paid it will show up in your account at Truist. 

I ran into the same issue when PNC bought out BBVA.  Bill payments set up in Quicken with BBVA would always show up immediately in my BBVA online account as either being processed or pending.  But at PNC none of my bill pay commands from Quicken show up in my online checking account until after the payment has been processed and paid.  It made me very nervous for the first several payments but it has been very reliable so I am feeling better about it now.