Canada Bank seamless connection

MyHome

I am spending more time in Canada with family and have been using Quicken for Windows for 2+ decades. I opened an account at TD and discovered that I can not do an update from Q for Windows, though it appears that I can download a file for importing.

Which bank in Canada is most suited to integrate with my program, and can be Updated either from Canada or US. Note: I have seen several posts and most of them describe problems but not successes. Any thoughts? Thanks.

smayer97

If you have the CDN version of QWIN, you can import data from TD Canada. If you have the US version, you cannot, period. 
Only the Mac version of Quicken is able to import data from both US and CDN FIs within the same version.

This is a feature that has been much requested and "This request has been accepted and added to the Development roadmap for future implementation. At this time there is not an ETA on when this feature will be available. CTP-978".
See here: https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7764306/merge-support-for-importing-data-from-us-and-ca-fis-banks-for-us-and-ca-versions-of-qwin-17-votes

MyHome

Thanks for the follow-up. If I get the Canadian version for Windows, can I access all of the US banks? And with the CDN version, can I do a simple update for TD?

Chris_QPW

MyHome said:

Thanks for the follow-up. If I get the Canadian version for Windows, can I access all of the US banks? And with the CDN version, can I do a simple update for TD?

Nope.  For the most part Quicken Windows US accesses only US financial institutions and Quicken Windows Canadian accesses only Canadian financial institutions.  There are some exceptions that seem to be in both because the financial institution has services in both countries, but that is rare, and might not handle the right currencies.

MyHome

Thanks! How about the download function for TD- will it then import into US QWIN?

Chris_QPW

MyHome said:

Thanks! How about the download function for TD- will it then import into US QWIN?

@smayer97 said it wouldn't work, and he would certainly know as a Canadian user, but let me expand on some of the details.

First off, unlike Quicken Windows US, I don't believe there are any Canadian financial institutions supporting Direct Connect, so it would be Express Web Connect (seems to be a pretty limited list) and Web Connect (QFX files).

Clearly Express Web Connect is completely out of the question.

Now on the surface, Web Connect is off the table too.
For all the connection types what is available is in the fidir.txt file that Intuit provides to Quicken and there is one for Quicken Windows US, one for Quicken Windows Canadian, and another for Quicken Mac.
https://ofx-prod-filist.intuit.com/qw2800/data/fidir.txt
https://ofx-prod-filist.intuit.com/qw2800-can/data/fidir-c.txt
https://ofx-prod-filist.intuit.com/qm2400/data/fidir.txt

So, if you try to import that Canadian/TD QFX file into Quicken Windows US the FITID in the QFX file (first number in the lists above) in it will not be in its list and it will reject it.

Now unlike with Direct Connect/Express Web Connect, Quicken doesn't actually log in to your financial institution when import a QFX file, so it is possible to use a different financial institution's FITID.

But you are going to run into another problem with Quicken Windows US, it only accepts QFX files where the currency is USD.  Quicken Windows Canadian on the other hand will accept a QFX file with different currencies.

One way to bypass most of these problems is to convert the QFX file to QIF and import that.  It has its own set of problems but might be the right choice for you.  You can use my free program ImportQIF for doing that alone with converting from other formats.
https://www.quicknperlwiz.com/

MyHome

Thanks. Sounds quite laborious. Maybe i should get a version of QWin for CAD and un it in parallel. Do you know if TD works with the CAD version?

Chris_QPW

MyHome said:

Thanks. Sounds quite laborious. Maybe i should get a version of QWin for CAD and un it in parallel. Do you know if TD works with the CAD version?

@smayer97 said does in his post.  Note that you can’t run both Quicken Windows US and Quicken Windows Canada on the same machine, you would have run it on a separate machine or in a virtual machine.

smayer97

Yes, the most "convenient" way to go if you need both versions is to run one in a VM. Not too hard to set up but also not for everyone. Once set up though, it is fairly straightforward. But you have to go to the trouble of setting it up AND paying for 2 Windows versions.

Do keep in mind that this also means having 2 separate files for US vs CAN transactions. The alternative is trying out the QIF import route, as @Chris_QPW mentions.

No perfect solution here, as it stands.

Arctic Hare

I concur with smayer97. In the Quicken Windows environment there is no overlap between US and Canada in terms of ability to download data from financial institutions. Even institutions that have both US and Canadian operations, those operations are separate entities and the download ability is limited to the country; i.e. RBC Royal Bank in Canada works with Quicken Windows Canadian and RBC Bank in the US would work with the US version (I believe), but cross-over is not presently possible. The Canadian version of Quicken has more multi-currency functionality than the US version, but that does not enable download from foreign banks.

And, as Chris_QPW suggested, there is no Direct Connect functionality with the Canadian version of Quicken or with any Canadian financial institutions.

As for the "fairly limited list" of Canadian FIs that support Express Web Connect - keep in mind that the composition of the Canadian banking industry is much different than that of the US. In Canada we have a small number of very large banks, which dominate the industry; all of those large banks support EWC.

MyHome

Thanks for all of this advice. I think I will try a Virtual Machine and get the Canadian version of Quicken. It appears from the above that TD Canada Trust will work with Canadian QW. Can you confirm?

Then I need to learn more about a VM. Is there a simple program that can help me with setting this up? The last time I did a VM was 3 decades ago when I was running MS DOS. I have never tried it with Windows. Thanks.

Arctic Hare

MyHome said:

Thanks for all of this advice. I think I will try a Virtual Machine and get the Canadian version of Quicken. It appears from the above that TD Canada Trust will work with Canadian QW. Can you confirm?

Then I need to learn more about a VM. Is there a simple program that can help me with setting this up? The last time I did a VM was 3 decades ago when I was running MS DOS. I have never tried it with Windows. Thanks.

The Canadian version of Quickens supports EWC with TD Canada Trust.

MyHome

Thanks. I searched to see what EWC means. Can you help clarify? Does this mean that if I get the Canadian version and run a VM, then I can do web-connect type downloads from TD? Thanks.

Arctic Hare

MyHome said:

Thanks. I searched to see what EWC means. Can you help clarify? Does this mean that if I get the Canadian version and run a VM, then I can do web-connect type downloads from TD? Thanks.

The Canadian version of Quicken Windows supports two technologies for downloading transactions: (i) Web Connect and (ii) Express Web Connect. Web Connect works with all support financial institutions. Express Web Connect works with select supported financial institutions. Express Web Connect is what runs with One Step Update. Web Connect requires logging into your FI's online banking and manually initiating the download. In summary, the more automated method, EWC, is supported for TD Canada Trust.

MyHome

Last question - I hope. I am in the US and am trying to purchase the Canadian version. When I type quicken.com/Canada, it defaults to the US site. What do you recommend?

Chris_QPW

MyHome said:

Last question - I hope. I am in the US and am trying to purchase the Canadian version. When I type quicken.com/Canada, it defaults to the US site. What do you recommend?

Are you sure you aren't on the Canadian site?  (They look almost the same, and people have even commented that the purchase requires a ZIP code instead of a postal code, and then they are sent to Quicken Support to handle the purchase (by the moderator here)!)

This is the Canadian site:
https://www.quicken.com/canada/product-selector-ca

You can tell because there isn't a Premier or Simplify listed (and the prices are certainly higher).

One thing I really wonder about is if the same Quicken Id can be shared for both.

MyHome

Here is what I did. I went to the Canadian website noted above and purchased the Canadian version. I logged in with my regular ID though. I checked out and paid. The system directed me to My Account, and the new Canadian subscription was not added. I actually don't know where the subscription went, nor do I know how to download the Canadian version.

Then I purchased a VPN and connected to a Canadian server. That didn't help. I am working from home in the US and have a router in my home to connect to the internet. Is it possible that the VPN didn't actually make me appear as if I was in Canada?

I am not sure what to do at this point.

MyHome

Also, I had logged in with my regular ID, and did not create a new account in this process.

MyHome

Here is the update...I was able to solve the problems and thought I would share with you: I needed to clear my Cache to get the VPN to work. Once I set up for a Canadian server, I connected to Quicken, and logged in with my usual ID. It worked, and found the Canadian subscription. I downloaded the Canadian version of Q on a second machine, and added my bank and everything worked OK. Note: when I had a US IP address and logged in, the system found my US Subscription. When I used a Canadian IP address, the system found my Canadian subscription.

The next step is to install a Virtual Machine and see if I can run both programs on the same computer.

Chris_QPW

Thanks that is very useful @MyHome.