Why do I have to re-authorize all of my accounts with USAA when only one is in error?

Question

WIN 10, USAA Fed Savings Bank, no error statements, loss of connectivity to account(s)

Lately, in the last two months, one or two of my several accounts with USAA will stop updating over the web.  I have used the Quicken Fix It pathway but found even with great care, that mapping has either not worked or been mapped to another bank altogether.  For those who have not done this yet, take great care at the mapping page.  Check more than once or you may end up with chaos.

I retreated to loading a backup copy and attempted to fix just one of the accounts still not connecting.  Once authorized for access by me, I get a list of all of my USAA accounts which have been matched by the process to somewhat random accounts in my Quicken file.  I have resolved the issue today, but want to know if this is usual behavior of the program when working with USAA accounts.  I don't have confidence that the mapping I selected in Quicken always gets mapped correctly.  In the past, dealing with one account kept things simple and seemed to offer less chance for process error.

Quicken Kristina · Answer

Thank you for your reply,

Usually Quicken is pretty good at identifying the correct account to link to, but there are times when it is wrong, which is why it's important to check.  If it is frequently causing issues when you need to connect/reconnect accounts, I would recommend reaching out to Quicken Support next time it happens since they can walk you through troubleshooting steps in real-time and escalate the situation as needed.  The Quicken Support phone number can be found through this link here. Phone support is available from 5:00 am PT to 5:00 pm PT, Monday through Friday.

Thank you.

marpler · Answer

Kristina:

Quicken Version R51.21 Build: 27.1.51.12

Thank you for your response and questions.  This problem has only occurred over the recent week, and other than 2 days has not been recurring.  Since my post of 29 August, I have had no other problems (yet) to today.  The majority of my accounts are with the USAA bank and they have been the most problematic this time and in the past.  The difference between recent problems and the past is the process of re-activating accounts has changed which you explained.  The process though mixes accounts from different banks which may use the same protocols for connecting.  Why do this?  In my initial attempt to fix, I assume I missed the Quicken "Link to existing account" which actually erroneously linked to an account from another bank.  In the past I could trust Quicken to link to an existing account from the same bank correctly.  I no longer hold that opinion.  The current linking process seems spurious and error prone.  On my second attempt to reconnect accounts I carefully  went through all accounts regardless of "linked" or "new" status and found several mistakes by Quicken.  I wrote this post because even after a careful review and correction of all accounts listed by Quicken for re-connecting, Quicken still linked accounts from another bank even though I corrected them prior to selected the Next button.  The third attempt did work but required me to review all of the proposed links three times, just to make sure I did my part.

This seems much too hard for the average user, IMHO.  I am not looking forward to my next re-connection, although I will have been forewarned for this next one.  As for trouble shooting, I tried the Fix It pathway and the individual account "Edit Account Details → Online Services → Deactivate/Reactivate pathway.  In the past, this last pathway often allowed me to deal with only one account, not all of the accounts from banks using the same connecting protocol.  Seems a step backwards.  I would ask Quicken look at the pairing process to create a more reliable process at this step.  Again, why offer to link accounts from another bank?  Just doesn't make sense to me.

Quicken Kristina · Answer

Hello @marpler,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about this issue.  I'm sorry to hear you're running into this problem.  When you go through the authorization/re-authorization process with financial institutions connected by EWC+, it is normal for Quicken to see all accounts that are visible under that User ID, not just the one that you are dealing with.

You mentioned this issue started a couple months ago; has it been recurring, or was it a one time event?  If it is recurring, is it always the same account(s) getting disconnected?  Do you recall which version of Quicken you were using when the issue started?  Aside from the Quicken Fix It flow and deactivating/reconnecting the account(s), what other troubleshooting have you done?

Thank you.