Connectivity Issue - Principal Funds

BTBT

Hello All,

Downloading information from Principal Funds has been working fine for the last 2 years with no problems. Starting about 3ish weeks ago I am getting a connectivity error to Principal Funds every time when I am doing the update accounts function (see screenshot 01-connectivity problems). It asks 'Have you changed your password recently?' I have not, so I hit 'No - Update Now'.

Then a window pops up and asks for the password. I enter my password again and hit OK.

Then the update is a success.

I use a password manager and the password is copied to the clipboard and then pasted into Quicken, so it is not a typo with the password. This is 100% reproducible and the same thing happen every time.

Any suggestions to try? Does Quicken try a different connection technique when it retries, so that is why it is successful?

Quicken Classic Deluxe - Version R53.16 Build 27.1.53.16

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @BTBT,

If you haven't already, I suggest you try to deactivate all accounts for this financial institution, then force Quicken to "discover" all available accounts and see if this will help resolve it. Please, follow the instructions below in order to do so.

1. Open the Account List in Quicken (Tools > Account List OR Ctrl + A)
2. If present, select the Show Hidden Accounts checkbox at the bottom of the Account List
3. Edit each account with this financial institution to Deactivate (or Remove From One Step Update) on the Online Services tab
4. Click on the General tab and remove any info displayed in the Financial Institution, and Account/Routing Number fields. Note: The account must be deactivated first before these fields can be edited.
5. When finished, close the Account List
6. Close, then re-open Quicken
7. Navigate to Tools > Add Account 
8. Walkthrough this process as if you were going to add a new account, providing the login credentials and answering any security questions/processes presented until you reach the screen where Quicken displays the Accounts Discovered at the financial institution
9. Very carefully LINK each of the found accounts to the appropriate account you already have set up in Quicken.

Once that is done, see if the issue still continues to persist.

Let us know how it goes!

BTBT

Hello Jasmine,

Thanks for the assistance. I went through the procedure and there was an issue with adding the account back to use online services. See the screenshots below.

Let me know if there are any additional recommendations.

Cheers,

Brian

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

Usually, you receive that message when the financial institution says the login credentials were incorrect, or if some form of authorization is needed through the financial institution's website before you're able to connect. Have you checked the financial institution's web site to see if there's any sort of 3rd party app authorization process?

Thank you!

BTBT

Hello Kristina,

Thanks for the additional comments. The login credentials are copied straight from a password manager, so they are correct (I login to the webpage with the same method).

I have been connecting to Principal from Quicken for over 1 year with no problems. While trying the troubleshooting from the first response this is the result. I did log into Principal Funds website and had a look around. I didn't see any options or 3rd party app authorization process.

When I revert to my previous Quicken file before I made the changes from the first response I can still get updates from Principal, but I have to go through the same process as described in my first post(first try fails all the time, second try is successful), so it is not ideal. Do you know if Quicken uses a different connection method when it retries as shown in my original post?

So, still looking for things to try. Feel free to offer any other ideas.

Thanks.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @BTBT,

The only connection method offered with Principal Funds is Direct Connect.

Have you attempted to reach out to the financial institution directly for assistance? It is recommended to request to speak to a tier 2 agent or a supervisor as they are generally more familiar with third-party applications such as Quicken.

I hope this helps!

BTBT

Hello Jasmine,

I will contact Principal Funds today and see what they have to say.

Thanks!

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @BTBT,

Please let us know.

Thank you!

BTBT

Hello Jasmine,

I ended up going though their web page and asking about connecting to Quicken. They responded that I need to connect with 'Principal Funds' and not with any other Principal named in the listing. This I have done since the beginning.

Then they said that all I need to do is put in my username and password, same as I would for logging into the Principal website. I have done this as well.

Then they said if the above doesn't work to contact Quicken support.

If I have time I will try to call Principal as well, but it seems straightforward. Choose Principal Funds and use the correct username and password.

Thanks.

r65wingfield

I am having the same issue trying to connect to Principal for the first time. Principal customer service was completely unhelpful, second tier agent basically shrugged it off and offered no help.

BTBT

Hello @Jasmine ,

Principal support said that I am doing everything properly and that I need to discuss with Quicken support. Not sure what to do next from here.

@r65wingfield Thanks for adding your experience. Do you know when this started for you? I can see when I click on my Principal Funds account that right under the title it says 'Last Downloaded November 3, 2023 - 7:49 (Direct Connect). Just curious if it started within a week or so of when mine stopped working.

Cheers,

Brian

BTBT

Hello All,

I see that after the error and Quicken then says 'Account Update Successful' that it is not actually updating the Principal account information, it is just updating the password that is typed in. So, in reality no transactions are being downloaded. Confirmed by logging into the website and seeing that there are transactions that are not being downloaded into Quicken.

Any other things to try?

Thanks!

operalady

I am having the exact same problem, and yes, this issue started about 3-4 weeks ago. I did exactly what BTBT said in his correspondence with you. I also contacted Principal about the issue and was told to contact you. Would deeply appreciate an update/fix to this thread so I can assemble my end of year account balances.

jeanwp

I've been having the same issue for the last few weeks as well. Very frustrating! I would also appreciate a solution.

rjreed

I am having the same problems. After deactivating my login information is no longer recognized. Seems like Principal Funds has problems every so often. As I recall something similar happened with my Principal Funds account a year ago. I'm so aggravated that I may request my financial advisor to transfer my funds to a different investment company if this isn't resolved.

BTBT

@rjreed Thanks for your comment. Are you thinking that the root cause of this issue is on the Principal Funds side?

If Principal Funds changed something in they way some apps connect to get data, then the app should be able to be updated to the newer method and the connection should be good again, unless there was some drastic change on the Principal Funds side that prevents this. So I would think that Quicken would be able to make some changes to get the connection working again - assuming Quicken knows about it. Hence this post.

@Quicken Jasmine @Quicken Kristina - Any news or update from Quicken?

capitalfin

Me too! Same problem

BTBT

Hello,

I had some time to take a look at this more. I looked at the OFX.log files and found some interesting things between a working connection Vanguard and the unworking connection of Principal.

The working Vanguard shows

<INTU.BRANDNAME>Vanguard

<INTU.FISHORTNM>CLICK HERE!

<INTU.STATUS>ACTIVE

<INTU.NPCFLAG>OFX

<INTU.MKTTIERTYPE>INVESTMENT

The non-working Principal shows:

<INTU.BRANDNAME>Principal Funds

<INTU.FISHORTNM>Quick Info

<INTU.STATUS>ACTIVE

<INTU.NPCFLAG>OFX

<INTU.MKTTIERTYPE>BANKING

Should the <INTU.MKTTIERTYPE> for Principal also be INVESTMENT and not BANKING?

Not sure if that would make a difference.

BTBT

@Quicken Jasmine Hello! Any update on this or other things to try?

mshiggins

A long shot: make sure your financial institution password does not exceed 32 characters in length. Also insure that password does not contain any of these 5 special characters: &, <, >, \, or /

If your FI password adheres to OFX specs and you still have the problem, try contacting Quicken Support.

If that doesn't help, I suggest reporting the problem to Quicken using Help > Report a problem. Make sure to send your sanitized data file and all your log files. Don't expect any response from Quicken.

-JP

BTBT

Hello @mshiggins ,

Thanks for your comment. I checked my password and it does meet all the constraints that you describe above.

Ok, I will look at contacting Quicken using the Help→Report a problem option.

Thanks

BTBT

Interestingly enough I did the update accounts today and Principal worked. No change from my settings or passwords at all. There was a Quicken update recently (within the last week) and I don't think I did an update since then, so maybe it was something in the Quicken update that fixed this. My latest qw.exe file timestamp shows 27 Jan 2024 at 9:30pm and I don't think I did an update account since before that time. Of course, it could also have been on Principals side and the Quicken update was just a coincidence.

Well, that is nice. Good to have my Principal accounts automatically syncing again after 3 months, hope it lasts. Would have been nice to hear a bit more from Quicken during the 3 months.