How to remove password on Password Vault

GeezerGeek

Presently I don't have any accounts that have a password stored in the Password Vault since they all connect via Express Web Connect. For that reason, I don't see any need to have a password on the Password Vault. I can see how to change the password on the Password Vault but I don't see any way to delete. Do I have to delete the Vault to remove the password on it? That would be a real pain since I would have to reconnect all of my accounts.

Boatnmaniac

Short answer: Yes, if you want to remove the PW you will need to delete the Vault which would cause you to have to reconnect all of your accounts.

GeezerGeek

I went ahead and deleted the Password Vault but I found out that when you recreate it, Quicken requires that you have a password on the Password Vault. So you need a password on the Password Vault to protect the passwords that are not stored in the Password Vault. Just another anachronism in Quicken.

Boatnmaniac

I've run a couple of test in 2 different TEST files.

1. In one file I set up the PW Vault for a DC account that I set up for downloads. Then I set up the EWC and EWC+ accounts making sure not to check the box to add them to the PW Vault. As I suspected, whether that box is checked or not, the EWC and EWC+ accounts were added to the PW Vault.
2. In another file, I have no DC accounts set up so there was no need to set up a PW Vault. Then I set up a couple of EWC and EWC+ accounts making sure not to check the box to add them to the PW Vault. Then I checked to see if a PW Vault had been created for them and found out one had not been created. Ran OSU a few times and it worked well….still no PW Vault. Since EWC and EWC+ do not require login information for the financial institutions to be saved in Quicken it is not surprising to see that the PW Vault is not needed for them. And it confimed that not having a PW Vault does not impare OSU. Good to know.

Boatnmaniac

Short answer: Yes, if you want to remove the PW you will need to delete the Vault which would cause you to have to reconnect all of your accounts.

GeezerGeek

Well I guess I should be thankful that Quicken is not requiring me to delete my data file to delete my password on my Password Vault.

GeezerGeek

I went ahead and deleted the Password Vault but I found out that when you recreate it, Quicken requires that you have a password on the Password Vault. So you need a password on the Password Vault to protect the passwords that are not stored in the Password Vault. Just another anachronism in Quicken.

GeezerGeek

The question now is Does Quicken need a Password Vault if you don't have any stored passwords? I deleted the vault again and then did a One Step Update. Quicken acted like it updated the accounts but there were not any transactions to update so I don't know if it actually updated.

That's another recent problem with Quicken: You get a message that the account updated but the update actually failed and there are transaction out there that were not downloaded. This week I was missing transactions in two accounts even though Quicken told me they updated. I was able to download the transactions for the accounts by resetting the On-Line Services under Edit Account Details. So I was having update failures while Quicken was telling me the updates were successful.

Anyway, I will see continue to do the One Step Updates without a Password Vault for the next few days and see if I get any accounts to download transactions. When I get results, I will update this post.

Boatnmaniac

I have several DC financial institutions so the PW Vault is necessary for me. When I've added EWC/EWC+ accounts I automatically check the box to include them in the PW Vault (out of habit). I've never tried setting up EWC/EWC+ accounts without checking that box to see what happens during future OSUs. I'll make a point of testing that out, now.

Yes, please update here with your future observations.

Boatnmaniac

I've run a couple of test in 2 different TEST files.

1. In one file I set up the PW Vault for a DC account that I set up for downloads. Then I set up the EWC and EWC+ accounts making sure not to check the box to add them to the PW Vault. As I suspected, whether that box is checked or not, the EWC and EWC+ accounts were added to the PW Vault.
2. In another file, I have no DC accounts set up so there was no need to set up a PW Vault. Then I set up a couple of EWC and EWC+ accounts making sure not to check the box to add them to the PW Vault. Then I checked to see if a PW Vault had been created for them and found out one had not been created. Ran OSU a few times and it worked well….still no PW Vault. Since EWC and EWC+ do not require login information for the financial institutions to be saved in Quicken it is not surprising to see that the PW Vault is not needed for them. And it confimed that not having a PW Vault does not impare OSU. Good to know.

GeezerGeek

Boatnmaniac, from the limited downloads I've done since I deleted the vault, Quicken is working as you described. I've only had two accounts with recent transactions since I deleted the vault and those two updated without a vault. I keeping a list of the accounts that update just so I can validate that all are working but I suspect they will all update just fine. Quicken update status states that all accounts have successfully updated but as I mentioned earlier, Quicken was giving that successful update status on some accounts when in fact they were not updating. An actual download of a transaction is the proof I need to validate the update works.
Thanks, I appreciate your help. Quicken should update their Help sections with the information you stated because that is not clear in the information they provide in the "Password Vault" and "Express Web Connect" Help sections.

Boatnmaniac

@GeezerGeek - The TEST file I'd set up (with no PW Vault) continues to download properly into the credit card accounts I'd set up but I have been getting an unusual behavior with one of the EWC accounts that happens every time I run OSU….which is now 4 times since 4/15. Elan Financial (Fidelity Rewards Card) prompts me every time I run OSU to enter a security word (which is already set up in my online account).

Now, it's not usual to get prompted for a security word (or a 2FA code) but it is unusual to get prompted for it every time OSU is run. What makes it even more odd is this almost never happens with this same credit card in 3 different files where Elan is included in the PW Vault.

Other than that, everything seems to be working well with the no-PW Vault file….OSU runs well, Online Balances get updated and transactions are downloading.

I will run OSU in this TEST file, again, tomorrow morning. If it still prompts me to enter a security word I will then create a PW Vault and add this card to it. Then I'll run OSU and see if that prompt goes away.

GeezerGeek

@Boatnmaniac All of my active accounts have now updated at least once and I have not received any prompts for security words. I use 2FA on a lot of accounts but the EWC handles that without any prompting. If you haven't already, I would suggest that you reset the on-line credentials for the account that is prompting for the security word.

Boatnmaniac

@GeezerGeek - During OSU this morning Elan updated fine without prompting me to enter a security word. So I didn't get a chance to try out your suggestion or my idea.