Empower 401K Downloads

henryleigh

I have been trying to download recent transactions and security prices to Quicken using the "Quicken QFX" option in the transaction sections of the Empower 401K Plan.
However, this option is not working. A message saying there are no transactions available, or the app just sits "thinking" is all I get.
I know there are transactions available that I would like to download and/or security prices.

Mark1104

@tjwo - see my post above... ETA no earlier than Feb for Empower to fix. 

Mark1104

@henryleigh -

I just tried downloading transactions from Empower; I know there are some available to download.  When I begin to download, there is a warning IN EMPOWER that there are no transactions to download.

That is an Empower issue.....might be worth calling their 800 number....I only download every two weeks and the last time I downloaded it was succesful: November 26.  Tomorrow is when I'd normally do it again (paycheck is today).

Jeff_A_B

I'm having the same problem, that Empower is saying no transactions are available.

Mark1104

@Jeff_A_B

this is an EMPOWER issue.   I emailed them today and hope to hear something early in the week.

henryleigh

Thanks. I emailed them as well.

Palmers

Having the same issue. Look forward to hearing any resolutions!

Mark1104

@Palmers - can you please take the time to email them also from inside their secure website... it'll help them understand it is not a 'one off' if they get a bunch of emails from different customers

Palmers

Email sent to Empower. Thanks!

hshemer

Same issue. Wrote to Empower - here is their response, not too helpful or promising for a quick fix. The browser and cookies "recommendation" is a "knee jerk" response from online customer service providers - a deflection of the real issue on their end to ours (customers). In short BS :

"Empower is aware of the error message that you are receiving for the
Quicken feature. The issue is currently being researched for a
resolution, but a time frame is not currently available. We apologize
for any inconvenience.

Please note, we do recommend deleting cookies and temporary files from
your web browser. We also recommend confirming your web browser is
updated to the latest version.

If we may be of further assistance in the meantime, please contact
Empower at 1-800-338-4015. Automated services are available 24-hours a
day, seven days a week. Participant Service Center representatives are
available to assist you Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and
Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mountain time.

Sincerely,

Heather Brock
Specialist Correspondence"

Mark1104

this is on the Empower website..maybe we all need to call :"Karen"? 

-= Participant_services@empower-retirement.com

*Please do not put any confidential or personal account information in an email request. If you need to send us confidential information, please upload your documents.

Should an escalated issue arise requiring the prompt attention of Karen Jones, Vice President of Participant Services, please call her at 1-844-804-8989 or write to Karen at:

Empower Retirement

8515 E. Orchard Rd.

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Brian McDonald

I'm having the same issue and more.  I can see transactions from 12/9, but get the message saying that there isn't anything available to download.  One thing that I liked before was that even when that message is true, it would still download those custom ticker prices.  Now it doesn't do that.  Also, I have not been able to successfully import a .QDX file from Empower for over a month.

Mark1104

this is on the Empower website..maybe we all need to call :"Karen"? 

-= Participant_services@empower-retirement.com

*Please do not put any confidential or personal account information in an email request. If you need to send us confidential information, please upload your documents.

Should an escalated issue arise requiring the prompt attention of Karen Jones, Vice President of Participant Services, please call her at 1-844-804-8989 or write to Karen at:

Empower Retirement

8515 E. Orchard Rd.

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Mark1104

@Brian Mcdonald - can you please emial Empower via the email address in the secure app.  This is a Empoower issue and nothing to do with Quicken.   their website is not creating the download file. I successfully imported on November 26, but then  again I only download every two weeks (after the paycheck hits) 

hshemer

@Mark1104 -

This is an interface issue, and while you are right about the origin of the problem starting on the Empower end, it is also an issue of the quicken end, which is a service we buy to provide such interface. As you may notice above I did contact Empower as you suggest, but Quicken should be collaborating with them until it is resolved.

Mark1104

so of course I called Empower tonight and the front line associate said, 'there no known issue' and then checked with an associate who said it 'was a quicken issue'.  Ugh.....

DNelz

This has been going on for about 2 weeks now and its frustrating... I also want to know if Empower is going to start using detailed tracking downloads within quicken vs simple tracking but after seeing the responses from this issue im doubtful.

Mark1104

@DNelz - what do you mean detailed tracking vs. simple tracking? until this issue started 2 weeks ago, I have been able to obtain the detailed transactions for YEARS.  if you can't see that detail in Q, it may be a setting in Q that is the issue.  Edit>preferences>Investment - be sure the "simple" box is NOT checked. 

Brian McDonald

@Mark1104 - I send Empower a message yesterday.  I said...

I’ve seen comments in the Quicken community boards that Empower is aware of the issue(s), but no estimated time for resolution. 

 This is a big deal.  Many Quicken users rely on the interface working.  I spent over 30 minutes this morning manually entering transactions that normally take 15 seconds if your site was working as advertised.

The immediate issue is that nothing is downloading to a .QFX file.  We get a message that no transactions are available since the prior quarter, when we are on a screen showing dividends from December 2022! This is clearly an error.

The next issue is the presumption that even if there are no transactions, the stock prices of the unique company ticker symbols still need to download.  Otherwise, we need to go to the values tab to manually enter them.

The last issue, I hope, is that even when the .QFX file is created, it is rejected by Quicken as I understand that it doesn’t conform to new security guidelines from Quicken since sometime in October.

 I’ve raised the last issue before and received the canned response of “just use .QFX files”.  Well, that is all that Empower offers and they are not working.  Perhaps this is a chance to upgrade to “direct connect” or “express web connect”, the modern Quicken connections that have been popular with the larger providers for a decade.

 

Mark1104

just to close the loop with QUicken, I just spent 45 minutes on the phone with Q support to confirm, as I suspected, this is NOT a Quicken issue and they see this as a Empower issue.  I asked that this issue be flagged by Quicken (I have a case number) as if I were Quicken and another firm was using my logo, I'd want to be sure that they were providing the service reflected by use of the logo (there has to be a contract somewhere)..... Quicken is bigger than me, so I encourged them to contact Empower and light a fire under this issue.  I also left a voice mail with Karen Johnson of Empower (see thread further above),

DNelz

@Mark1104 Im talking about the one click sync option that updates all your accounts at the same time. Im getting the "This Financial Institution only supports Simple Tracking" when trying to link accounts. I can get the details if I manual get the OFX file from empower.

Mark1104

I talked to Empower escalations team tonight - I am confident I was talking to a manager who knew what was going on.  Here is the story: Yes, the Product Team at EMPOWER knows they have a problem.  Appears they changed some of their technology a few weeks ago and it had the unintended consequence of impacting how the QXF files get generated.  It doesn't affect all their client portfolios but the rerepsentative figured he did impact 10-20% of users.  They have their radar on this, but it won't be prioritized until everyone can meet in early January and while the representative couldn't give me an exact ETA, he figured it wouldn't be fixed until sometime in February.... Ugh.... but at least he set my expectations and someone who knew what they were talking about could give me some insight.  The representative also concured this is not a Quicken problem - Empower owns the problem. 

@DNelz - different financial institutions decide to provide electronic transactional data in different ways.  Empower chooses webconnect.  Empower doesn't permit Quicken to connect directly to its servers (which in my simple mind is what One Step Update entails).  Empower creates a file in the QXF format which can be downloaded from Empower to your desktop and then uploaded to Quicken.   I've been with Empower (via employer) for a large number of years (could be 8-10 years) and it has always been this way. 

DNelz

@Mark1104 Thats fine, but my employer has recently transitioned to empower and its been issue after issue. This is supposed to be a major player in the retirement space and cant even handle the simplest of tasks (not just this quicken issue). Thanks for the update on the QXF file.

Brian McDonald

The "temporary fix" is in.  I noticed that Empower removed the Quicken download logo and feature this morning:(.

caramel

Empower's interface with Quicken has been awkward all along, and this latest foul-up is just added frustration. Hoping they actually intend to fix it; I've seen this sort of thing serve as a stalling tactic while an institution figures out how to say it no longer supports Quicken downloads at all.

Zack Howell

Just commenting on this thread in hopes to get notified once there is a fix in place. I contacted Empower as well, first by phone call which went to a call center in another country where they had no idea what I was talking about and then by FB Messenger where I received the attached communication (fairly disappointing). I too noticed this morning that the link to download has been removed.

AnPann

Thanks for the discussion Everyone. I too saw the same as before. First the Quicken download was not working and now the Quicken download link is missing. Being out of the country traveling I could not call. So frustrating that a major retirement company cannot get its act straight.

Mark1104

@Zack Howell -  I think the download link is missing to stop the calls and questions from coming in.... probably would have been better to leave the link but change the message that popped up to "we have a problem; check back in February" or words to a similar effect.

my m.o. is to avoid calling ANY call centers outside the US business day (as well as avoid Mondays).  Some companies appear to soley use off-shore resources outside the US business day, so during the US business day it's more likely to get a representative that is US based.  Mondays can be backlogged due to higher absenteeism rates and higher demand from questions that piled up over the weekend from customers.....  

tjwo

Noticed the quicken QFX link missing as well yesterday... Emailed support and they referred me to their tech support phone line - nothing new to report. Original message shown in the attached screenshot.

Mark1104

@tjwo - see my post above... ETA no earlier than Feb for Empower to fix. 

jk_hart

I emailed them and asked if there was another way to download transactions as I couldn't find any. I've no response yet. So I'll ask it here, is there a way to download transactions in a csv file that could be imported into quicken?

Mark1104

@jk_hart - there is currently no way I am aware of to download transactions.  CSV file is not an option