Quicken is still connecting to your biller

Rich Burke

I have been getting this message (screenshot attached) for about a month now on many of my online bills. Any help or advice is appreciated.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Rich Burke,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

This is a known issue that has been escalated internally, though we do not have an ETA on resolution available at this time. While the investigation remains ongoing, please refer to this Community Alert for any and all available updates.

We apologize for any inconvenience in the meantime! Thank you.

RStrig

I am having the same issue. Looking at past history :)This is a known issue that has been escalated internally, though we do not have an ETA on resolution available at this time. While the investigation remains ongoing, please refer to this Community Alert for any and all available updates.). This issue will not be resolved anytime in the near future. Live with it.

UKR

If your bank recently required you to reauthorize your checking  account and/or your bank has changed from "Direct Connect" to either "Express Web Connect" or "Express Web Connect+" you can no longer use Online Bill Pay direct to the bank or Quicken Bill Manager's Quick Pay function. The banks no longer support this function through Quicken.

Alternatives:

1. Use Quicken Bill Manager's Check Pay making sure to submit payment early enough (around 10 - 14 days before due date) to allow time for delivery and processing.
2. Logon to the bank's website and make your bill pay payments from the bank. In parallel to that, in Quicken use a regular Scheduled Reminder to record your payment. Repeat every time another payment is due.
3. Logon to the biller's website once and set up their Autopay, APS, Direct debit, etc. to make the current payment and all future payments on Due Date directly from your checking account. In parallel to that, in Quicken use a regular Scheduled Reminder to record your payments before they come due.
4. Write (or print with Quicken) a paper check and mail it to the biller, making sure to mail payment early enough (around 10 days before due date) to allow time for delivery and processing.

I've been using a variation of method #3 for decades, since before the Internet and dial-up were even invented. It's easy to get used to this process. And I have yet to miss a single payment.

Rich Burke

UKR - No, none of this happened, what did happen is I got a new computer and set it all up. It all worked perfectly before getting a new computer. This had nothing to do with a bank asking me to re-authorize, as of this morning I have 6 institutions in this state - all of these worked perfectly fine prior to installing Qucken on the new computer and migrating the data.

Snorkle

@UKR Yes, bank bill pay no longer works for banks like Chase which switched from Direct Connect to EWC+. However bills can still be linked to online billers. All the bills that I used to pay with Quicken using Chase bill pay continue to be updated in Quicken but now I pay them at the Chase website.

Rich Burke

Attached is the message I have been seeing for 6 billers that worked prior to upgrading my computer. Does quicken monitor this channel?

Rich Burke

[Removed - Alumni Tag] - do we have any updates on this persisting issue?

rpblouw

I would be satisfied to just delete the bills altogether.

Katrina52

I don't see the point of having an Bill Pay in Quicken that works sporadically. If I'm going to be forced to go to my bank website to pay a bill then I'd just as soon remove the Bill Pay and Bill Manager in Quicken until ALL the bugs are worked out.
I use National Bank of Arizona which is a Zion's Bank affiliation. Please let me know when the functionality if fixed, or if I should be just using my Bank's Online BIll Pay? Same thing with ETrade Bank.

UKR

Katrina52 said:

I don't see the point of having an Bill Pay in Quicken that works sporadically. If I'm going to be forced to go to my bank website to pay a bill then I'd just as soon remove the Bill Pay and Bill Manager in Quicken until ALL the bugs are worked out.
I use National Bank of Arizona which is a Zion's Bank affiliation. Please let me know when the functionality if fixed, or if I should be just using my Bank's Online BIll Pay? Same thing with ETrade Bank.

It's the banks who are throwing monkey wrenches into the works, "for improved security", as they say.
That means, IMHO, online bill pay from within Quicken will become (has already become for some) a thing of the past. Use the bank's website for online bill pay activity, either every month for each bill to pay, or allow Autopay to do the work for you, as I described earlier.

rmaccorm

The conversion to Quicken Bill Manager for Bank of America transactions in October 2022 has been nothing short of a disaster!

I have been a faithful Quicken user since 1996 through good times and a few quirky times. I have expected only two main services from this money management software package - the ability to keep track of a wide variety of accounts and transactions, and the ability easily to pay bills. Although I may use them, I have little real need for most other functions in the program.

Quicken has generally served me well in these critical areas - until recently! Due to some issues apparently imposed by security concerns with interfacing to Bank of America, Quicken has changed its seamless bill payment methodology to something termed Quicken Bill Manager consisting of two fairly disparate functions called Quick Pay and Check Pay.

Quick Pay claims to be able to send electronic payments to over a purported 11,000 payees who have online accounts accessible by Quicken. Since October, I have been able use Quick Pay with only two of my well over 20 vendors. Attempts to use Quick Pay with the remaining vendors result either in an interminable wait with a 'Fix It' button that does nothing, or an error message stating 'Quick Pay Error: Payment Account Declined'. Apparently, some billers require that a new payment account first be validated before being used to pay a bill. In each case, I followed Quicken's instructions to resolve this issue: I logged in to the biller’s website and initiated an Add Payment Account process. With the exception of the two accounts referenced above, this has never worked. Either I am doing something wrong and can find no direction on any Quicken support site or there is some flaw in the Quick Pay procedure.

I have been able to make payments by turning to Check Pay, the facility whereby a check can be sent to anyone in the United States with an address through a Quicken service. Unfortunately, only five Check Pay transactions are allowed without charge per month [nine during an introductory period] and then additional transaction much be purchased at a fee of three for $3.00. Since I have essentially been unable to use Quick Pay and must use Check Pay for everything, this cost is becoming prohibitive. This is especially frustrating since, prior to the change, I was required to pay nothing to either BoA or Quicken for any check processing.

Other 'human factors' problems exist: there is no way to convert a Check Pay to a Quick Pay or vice versa; there is no way to edit a Quick Pay on the Bills & Income page; there is no way to copy and paste a previous payment transaction; and numerous other idiosyncrasies. This whole package is definitely not ready for prime time. I have wasted tens of hours simply trying to pay my bills on time utilizing what should be the heart and soul of a money management system.

I am sad to say that this is the first time in over 25 years as a Quicken user that I am actively considering the acquisition of a different program.

Paul D.

Has this issue been resolved yet? The Community Alert returns permission denied and I've slowly been seeing more and more of my billers enter a "Fix It" state.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Paul D.,

Thanks for visiting the Community and adding to this discussion.

The Alert linked above has since been marked resolved and archived which is why it is no longer accessible. If you are still experiencing this error after the Alert has been marked resolved, then we advise that you please contact Quicken Support directly for further assistance and possible escalation if they see fit.

We apologize for any inconvenience! Thank you.

dhharris

> @Rich Burke said:
> Attached is the message I have been seeing for 6 billers that worked prior to upgrading my computer. Does quicken monitor this channel?

any resolution yet? I am very frustrated by this. It has worked in the past very well. What changed in Quicken as I have not changed anything in the way I use it?

badagliacca

This failure still exists. I have three billers that are "Still connecting to [biller name]". Anthem, Capital One, and SimpliSafe. This failure has existed for many, many months.

Rich Burke

No updates from Quicken

UKR

badagliacca said:

This failure still exists. I have three billers that are "Still connecting to [biller name]". Anthem, Capital One, and SimpliSafe. This failure has existed for many, many months.

Please reread my first comment in this discussion from November 2022.
This situation is most likely not going to improve. Not any time soon. Not at all.
Bypass the Bill Manager aggravation and use one of the alternative methods instead.