Empower No Longer Offering QFX Downloads
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Direct Connect and Web Connect (.QFX file downloads) download methods are both created by software created and maintained by the financial institution (FI) on their servers.
Express Web Connect download method is created and maintained by Quicken's data aggregator, Intuit.
Express Web Connect+ relies on both the FI and the aggregator to do programming on their ends of the process.
In all cases, the aggregator helps and supports the FI to get things running correctly.
-splasher using Q continuously since 1996
- Subscription Quicken - Win11 and QW2013 - Win11
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There is a long thread (still active) about this connection issue with Empower in which Empower is repeatedly quoted by several different people as saying the issue is theirs and that they anticipate the connection issues being resolve by about the end of Q1/2023…so hopefully by the end of this month. If you want to read it:
That all being said, IMO, when a FI customer service person points the finger at Quicken it is usually simply because they know absolutely nothing about Quicken and the issue and simply want to deflect criticism because they don't know where to direct the customer. The quotations referenced in this other thread came from Empower management and Tech folks who have a whole lot more credibility than a low level customer service rep.
Now I suppose it could be true that Quicken (Intuit) made some sort of connection change but then one must ask why this connection issue isn't then affecting many other Financial Institutions. But I haven't heard of anything like this affecting massive numbers of other financial institutions so it's a pretty good indication that there was nothing on Intuit's and Quicken's end that caused this connection issue.
My guess as to what might be happening (and it is just a guess): Empower is rolling the old Mass Mutual Retirement data into their own Empower system and they may have had issues integrating Quicken into Empower's system And just as possible, they might have had to make a decision about whether or not to expend resources 2X (once to implement DC and another to implent EWC+) or just once (to implement just EWC+). No Financial Institution, I think, would find the prospect of expending resources on DC for just a few months to be financially and strategically viable. So, instead, they have been working with Intuit and Quicken to implement just EWC+. Currently, EWC+ is on a slow rollout to only a handful of organizations so there is no “lightswitch” that can be simply turned on. It takes time to set up and, hopefully, get the bugs worked out and the process proven. Well, that's my guess. I'm watching it closely to see if I'm right or wrong about this but I'm betting I'm right. We'll see.
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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@Boatnmaniac - this is an interesting development:
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Interesting. But I don't sense that this is telling the whole story. It seems limited to being about Empower discontinuing support for WC but it says nothing about any other connection method(s). And as you and others have gotten communications from Empower that they are working to get something set up for downloads into Quicken by about the end of Q1. So does this mean that Empower might be setting up EWC+ support while keeping WC off the table? I have suspected that for a while now. It would follow what some other FIs have done when they transitioned to EWC+…they eliminated support for not only DC and EWC but also for WC.
Do you think you might be able to find out more from Empower about what the full story is?
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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here is the latest:
I called the Empower executive team and after leaving VM, they called back within an hour! very responsive!
here is the mesage they left me:
“we are on track to have a fix late April / early May and we are committing to fixing the issue. The dates may slip if we end up with an unexpected problem. It has taken us longer than we anticipated”
well, at least there is a commitment to a date / timeframe verus some vague “we don't know” messaging.
this is the phone number I called from their auto-response:
“Should an escalated issue arise requiring the prompt attention of our Participant Services leadership team, please call us at 1-844-804-8989”
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Thanks for the follow-up posting. This tends to confirm (for me, at least) that the Quicken Announcement was either premature, inaccurate and/or it is misleading because it tells only half the story (i.e., the discontinued support for WC but saying nothing about what they are actually doing to replace/fix that support).
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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Seems to me that Empower wants you to put all your personal accounts in their tool and show them all your financial information along with your retirement account, so why would they be hurrying to fix a download to a third party system. Maybe I am cynical. Sure hope it gets fixed, really committed to Quicken for many years.
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Empower Retirement purchased Personal Capital last year. I have been a user of Personal Capital for probably 5 years. I think Quicken and Personal Capital could be viewed as competitors for the account aggregation market and so maybe neither company will be so quick to solve this for us. A potential workaround is to download your Empower transactions as a CSV file from their Personal Capital site and then somehow convert that file to a QXF for import into Quicken.
My experience was that soon after Empower purchased Personal Capital, I could not get the two systems to work together for months. They finally resolved that problem. From my perspective, it is Empower that has messed this up.0 -
@PB&J - this is a Empower issue. They have admitted it as noted in an earlier part of this thread:
“we are on track to have a fix
late April / early Mayand we are committing to fixing the issue. The dates may slip if we end up with an unexpected problem. It has taken us longer than we anticipated”0 -
My current bi-weekly purchases downloaded correctly this morning (and no previous issues in the past few months) but my connection is a Direct Connect connections, would that be why I still am receiving activity? Are you trying to connect via Direct Connect?
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Is this an inquiry about Empower or something else?
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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Those of us who only have a 401K account with Empower do not have DIrect Connect option available (at least that's my experience) and were limited to the QFX transaction download which has been unavailable since late last year.
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I understand that. Thanks for piping in and confirming that. It's why I asked what that post was in reference to because it doesn't seem to fit in with the subject of this Empower thread.
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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Looks like it may be time to move these 401Ks (plural) with my other ones at another provider.........0
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SOme of us have no choice because that's where our current employers chose ….
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I would guess that it is impossible for anyone to just pick another provider. By defintion 401Ks are run by your employer, and they must "connect" to those institutions and have contracts with them and such. This isn't a bank account. In all the time I had 401K accounts only one employer even allowed me to pick between two financial institutions, all the rest were "we use XXXX".
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When someone leaves an employer that person usually has the option of keeping their 401K account in that previous employer's 401K plan or moving it to the new employer's 401K plan. If they keep it in their previous employer's 401K plan they can later (whenever they want to) rollover it over to an IRA account at a brokerage or any financial institution that offers rollover IRA plans (such as banks and insurance companies). It's no longer a 401K plan but it still is a tax deferred retirement plan.
But you are right, that if the 401K account is your current employer's 401K plan then you typically cannot move your account elsewhere.
Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home
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Many 401(k) programs permit rolling the money to an IRA once you are 59.5 years old - even if you remain employed with the same employer….
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Yeah, I could do that with my wife's, but since she is still employeed there and wants to continue with the 401K I'm not sure how that would really work. Would one just rollover periodically or would it be a one time thing that you are out of the 401K, or all contributions go to the rolloever IRA from then on (not likely I think).
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you would be rolling to the IRA periodically; it doesn't affect the contribution.
it is advantegeous if you'd rather invest in ways in the IRA that are limited by the 401(k) provider.
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Either the Empower IT team is incompetent or Empower does not want their customers to have this capability. Either way, I no longer trust a major financial instiution that has failed to restore this capability and tolerates a regression for this long. This problem has been going on since November 2022. This is not rocket science. I am pulling my assets under management at Empower and converting to a Traditional IRA at another financial institution that provides the capability.0
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@agrecco - while it is certainly your right to change firms, and I am not happy with the situation either, but on the other hand, I have worked for financial services firms that are much, much bigger than Empower.
It can be corporate challenge to decide which item gets fixed first, when competing for labor and available dollars with items that get prioritized due to compliance issues or program enhancements (which normally are revenue generating).
While our issue may cause Empower to lose some customers / revenue, other priorities may cause them to lose significantly more revenue or be out of compliance (which creates fines and penalties if not addressed).
I am just glad this remains on the Empower radar with a targeted date for resolution.
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Just as a point of thought since there is frequently mention that Quicken uses Intuit. I've been able to successfully download Empower Retiresmart transactions on [Removed-3rd Party Software] and have been able to for quite some time.
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I spoke with Empower in late November 2022 and they said it would be fixed in Q1 2023. I contacted them again last week and they said it is "temorarily unavailable and they are working to correct it." They also added " Currently, we do not have an exact timleineof when the automatic download feature will be restored."
It's very strange as other large financial institutions like Citi, Chase, E*Trade, Fidelity, etc. never seem to have this issue. After such a long delay, I don't believe Empower have the will / desire to fix it.
Collectively, those with employer sponsored plans should let their benefits / HR teams know of this difficulty and Empowers lackluster response.
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@DFG73 - scroll up as back on March 8 I contacted the executive desk at Empower and was informed they targeted the fix for "late April or May",
You may want to call this phone number and see if they have an update; I will be contacting Empower in Early May if this issue is still open at that time
"Should an escalated issue arise requiring the prompt attention of our Participant Services leadership team, please call us at 1-844-804-8989 or you may write to us at:"
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They fixed it tonight (4/23/2023)! Quicken link on transactions page has returned and works fine!
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Thanx for the update, worked for me too.
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Yeah!!!! So glad to see the link back.
BTW…make sure you're actually in the account transactions, not in the overall transactions, to see the Quicken link.
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