Bank of America update is a total disaster

Mark Valpreda

Presented with the update to move to EWC+ between Quicken and Bank of America. Authorize, match accounts, everything looks okay....until Quicken downloads transactions. Account balances for all of my 6 accounts are wrong. Downloaded transactions that are already reconciled, changed the opening account balance (some from 2006!), and overwrote transactions that were already in there. I had to restore a backup it was so bad. Tried it 3 more times and got different results each time.

Talked to chat support who told me that I should reset everything or download my transactions manually. Not sure I want to have just paid for my renewal and then get LESS functionality.

Hopefully this gets a little better response.

LResca

I certainly hope we'll get better response. Some of my accounts date back to 1995. I've been loyal to Quicken that long, it would be nice if they could fix this. I also thought I was matching everything up nicely until the download, then all the balances were totally wrong, beginning balances wrong, transactions duplicated - just awful. I tried just deleting the duplicate transactions manually, but that didn't do it. Glad I had my backup. Hope there is a resolution.

FlyerFran

Yep, it is a disaster.  I've been with Quicken and BofA since 1993 and for all those years my Direct Connect connection worked great.  Now, I can't even download several of my accounts.  I am still hoping for answers to: what are the plans for Direct Connect going forward and why was this "upgrade" to EWC+ done before it was thoroughly tested and debugged.  

Mark1104

@flyerfran - which version of Q are you using (deluxe, premier, etc.).  I migrated to EMC+ with no issues and has been working flawlessly since the migration. I have used Q since 1994. 

Are the accounts you refering to all checking or credit card or wealth mgmt? is there any commonality to them? Is the ownership of the accounts the same (i.e. same SSNs). If you can download some but not all, I am wondering if its a security issue on the BofA side..... 

ptrader

I'm in the same boat. I followed the instructions to go to EWC+ for both BOA and Chase and nothing downloaded. Unable to link to existing accounts (all I get is the Do Not Link options). One account tried to create a whole new (empty) account in my Quicken.

I also have been a 30 year Quicken user. I thought I could manage losing the ability to send Bill Pay to my BOA accounts, but if I can't download my data, then this is useless to me. I'm hoping to figure out that it's a poor instructions/user error issue, but I've just spent an hour trying to make it work, to no success.

FlyerFran

@mark1104 - I'm using the latest Home & Business version.  After a lot of gymnastics (see my discussion "Problems with Reauthorization of Bank of America Accounts for Express Web Connect+), I was at first able to get all of my accounts to download.  Now, a few days later, several no longer download.  I get no error messages, in fact that only way I found out that the downloads for some accounts stopped is when I couldn't find transactions in Quicken that were on BofA's website.  The affected accounts are some but not all of my credit card, checking and savings accounts - all with the same registration.   Also my Investment account with Merrill is not downloading any longer.  I don't believe this is a BofA issue, just as discontinuing Direct Connect was not a BofA issue.  


  

FlyerFran

@ptrader - I feel your pain.  You might enjoy my discussion entitled: "Is Direct Connect Being Discontinued? I have not yet gotten anywhere in getting this answered or, if yes, figuring out how to stop it. 

Mark1104

is anyone on Deluxe experiencing these issues?  for me (and I have deluxe), the transition was quite smooth - no issues whatsoever. is this a H&B issue? are the issues only your business accounts or both your personal and business accounts?

for you business accounts, when you go online (not using quicken), do you use the same website as your personal accounts or do you use the bank's commerical CashPro system?

I am just groping at straws to understand where the common breakdowns are occurng.  these things are nomally not random, but appear to be until the root cause is identified. 

from what I understand, BofA (and other banks) drove this issue as EWC+ is a more secure process than DC, which was implemented many, many years ago

Chris_QPW

I don’t think the problems have anything to do with what edition a person is using.  It is more likely a combination of what is in their data file and what kinds of accounts they have.  Sort of the luck of the draw.  And the same can be said of exactly what kind of problems people run into.

Mark1104

@crhis_QPW -  I don't believe that. These are computers and :"root cause" always points to a consistent set of issues.  It is not random; it is not 'luck of the draw'. 



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Chris_QPW

@Mark1104
I used to have a supervisor that said that because computers were deterministic that programs couldn't have random behavior.  And as such it shouldn't be that hard to work back through what had been done and find a given problem.

This is a very simplistic viewpoint.

For instance, one of the problems we were talking about the software would run for several months, have one failure, and then go on with no other problem for another few months.  The software "interacted" with other computers over a network, so it wasn't even just this one computer/program that needed to be debugged.  Yes, it is "deterministic", but that doesn't mean that you can track all of the combinations that are possible in a reasonable time or with whatever "logging/monitoring" you have.

So, for all practical purposes, it is "random" when the number of variables gets too high.  For all we know weather is deterministic too, but for the very fact that we can't get at every possible variable at all times, let alone calculate their results means that to some degree it will always be "random".

One of the things that I notice is that the SuperUsers which are very careful about not using features like sync to Mobile/Web that corrupt data files, tend to have less problems.  I don't think that is a conscience.
People tend to forget that programming is done in a given context, with certain assumptions.  Whenever any of those assumptions are wrong all kinds of things can happen.  And one of those assumptions is that the data file is "correct" with values that they are expecting.

BTW with most neural networks, they have no idea how the software came up with some of the solutions it has found.  That is what you get when you mimic a system that you don't really understand (the human brain) in the first place.

FlyerFran

Seems that we're missing the point.  The problem is simple.  BofA was working fine! We went through the reauthorization process and then it wasn't working fine any longer.  Every conversion/reauthorization to EWC+ has caused problems and those conversions should be stopped until the reasons for the problems are discovered and fixed. 

I would like Eric Dunn to address this issue and tell us why it's being pushed.  To me the only reason to eliminate Direct Connect and the ability it provides to easily pay bills, etc. is to force us the use Q' internal bill pay system which in now way is as good and more expensive. 

Mark1104

@flyerfan - again, I haven't had a single problem with EWC+ and I am a long time BofA customer and a long time Q User..... 

the reason DC was discontinued was for reasons of security.  DC was created in a very different environment (25 years ago????) when there wasn't as much concern with aggregators and company's such as Intuit / Quicken 'pinging' a Bank's computers for transaction data.  The world is different and my understanding is that EWC+ is much more secure (we could be asked to re-authorise every 90 days or so - BofA requirement)

As I've stated elsewhere, BofA Bill Pay transactions are created in a different environment and fed into the Bank.  They are future dated transactions, so like a check that was written and not cashed, are not in the transaction history of the bank's checking account records.

It's also in declining use as bank customers have gotten used to paying their bills with credit cards, debit cards, permit auto-debit and use of Zelle over the years.  I suspect it was used a lot more by a lot more customers years ago. I rarely use it anymore.  What do you use it for? 

I really believe Quicken is on the "short end" of some of the banking industry decisions related to security and what it means to Quicken customers. Quicken didn't push this, it was pushed on them.

This is from the BofA website - this is why I state BofA is driving this issue - not Quicken. 

https://secure.bankofamerica.com/auth/security-center/third-party-access/#faqHeader

Chris_QPW

FlyerFran said:

Seems that we're missing the point.  The problem is simple.  BofA was working fine! We went through the reauthorization process and then it wasn't working fine any longer.  Every conversion/reauthorization to EWC+ has caused problems and those conversions should be stopped until the reasons for the problems are discovered and fixed. 

I would like Eric Dunn to address this issue and tell us why it's being pushed.  To me the only reason to eliminate Direct Connect and the ability it provides to easily pay bills, etc. is to force us the use Q' internal bill pay system which in now way is as good and more expensive. 

I totally agree that Quicken Inc/Intuit/Bank of America needs to get this fixed.  My only statement was that it is "random" on what people got what problems.

But statements like "it was working fine, why change it".  Or the famous "If it an't broke, don't fix it." ignore the reality of the world.  The world is change, and you aren't going to be able to stop it.

Bank of America decided to go to Express Web Connect + (actually really internally they went to FDX, which is the protocol that all their aggregators like Intuit have to no conform to).

And their concerns and priorities decided the change, not yours, or Quicken Inc's for that matter.
Even Intuit has bend to this.  Their Quickbooks users are being pushed to this too.

FlyerFran

@Chris_QPW - can you share your source for the statement "Bank of America decided to go to Express Web Connect+"  Thanks.

Chris_QPW

FlyerFran said:

@Chris_QPW - can you share your source for the statement "Bank of America decided to go to Express Web Connect+"  Thanks.

Here you go:
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20296762/#Comment_20296762

FlyerFran

@Chris_QPW, thanks.  

LResca

I'm using Premier - what I don't understand is that it's messed up more than just my BOA accounts - several of my accounts won't sync properly now. User for over 27 years of both BOA and Quicken - very frustrated. Still no solutions???

LResca

....and am I missing something? I don't need the feature to actually pay bills, I simply want my accounts to be updated with the transactions that have cleared so I can keep my accounts updated.

Chris_QPW

@LResca all I can say on that subject is that you aren’t alone, others are reporting problems where the transactions aren’t downloading.  About the only suggestion I can give is that if you haven’t already you should try contacting Quicken Support:
https://www.quicken.com/support#contact-support

Mark1104

@LResca -what version of Windows are you using? 

LResca

@Mark1104 - I'm using Premier

Mark1104

@LResca - I am asking abiut Windows... Windows 7, Windows 8, windows 10 or Windows 11????

click the windows key followed by the R key. then type"winver" in the window that opens and click :"okay"

LResca

@Mark1104 Windows 11 Home

Mark1104

@LResca - well, I can;t help.  I am on Deluxe version and had absoutely no problems and I bank with BofA.  

I;ve seen posts where some are still on Win 7, but that is below the minimum system requirement for Quciken - but that is not your issue,

Have you called Quicken Support? 

LResca

@Mark1104 - that's my next step - when I have the time to commit to it - thanks.