Fidelity Checking account misclassified as Investment-type after Fidelity switch to Quicken Connect

AJ-from-NJ

I am downloading transaction data from Fidelity into Quicken Classic Mac and struggling with various accounts where the Account Type changed incorrectly. This happened after Fidelity introduced new connection requirements in December 2023.

I have already caught up on the posts (referenced below) about the changes imposed on us by Fidelity and Fidelity's decision to abandon Direct Connect in 2023, but I am still having issues.

The issue relates to three of my accounts where the account Type is now misclassified:

1. I have a Cash Management Account with Fidelity (basically a checking account) that used to download transactions without issue through a Direct Connect connection. Direct Connect is no longer available for this account through the "Fidelity Netbenefits" connection that I previously used. Instead, Fidelity wants me to use the newer "Fidelity - Investments & Retirement" connection, which is based on Quicken Connect (the no-detail service).

Here's the problem - the software (or perhaps Fidelity) is now characterizing the account as an Investment-type account (which it is not) instead of a Checking account. This means that I cannot even match my longstanding checking account to anything on Fidelity's side. See below.

I can't use the "Add as a new account" dropdown to match it to my existing checking account, because only my Investment-type accounts are showing in the dropdown (i.e., not my checking, savings, and money market accounts).

It's therefore prompting me to ADD an Investment-type account (e.g., Keogh, Roth 401k, Traditional IRA, etc.) but it's NOT an Investment-type account!!! How do I force it to either (a) show me my existing checking account in the dropdown or (b) make "checking" one of the eligible options in the "Type" dropdown?

I am having similar issues with two other types of accounts:

2. In the opposite direction, I have a Stock Options account that will only add as Checking, Savings, Money Market, etc. Another severe misclassification, either by Fidelity or Quicken.

3. Also in the other direction, I have a Restricted Equity (Stock) account from my employer that will only add as Checking, Savings, Money Market, etc. despite the fact that the account only has stock shares in it - no cash component whatsoever.

Everything worked fine up until the recent changes with Fidelity. I am utterly fatigued by all of this nonsense with Fidelity. They are trying to force the world to use their Akoya download service (which they own) and put Plaid, Yodlee, and everyone else in the Open Data world out of business. They are just being "pennywise and pound foolish" and forgetting about customers like us in their quest to control and restrict our data.

In the meantime, can anyone help me?

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7943918/new-fidelity-connection-requirements

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7943910/ongoing-12-27-23-fidelity-accounts-authorization-includes-investment-accounts

Using Quicken Class for Mac
Version 7.4 (November-December 2023)

Jon

A Fidelity CMA is not a checking account, it's a full-on brokerage account. You can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds & ETFs. The fact that you're using it like a checking account doesn't matter - you could do those things in a CMA so Quicken has to set up the account as an investment account. The only way you can make Quicken treat it like a checking account is to not connect it to Fidelity at all & use it strictly as a manually managed account.

You can still connect your CMA through Direct Connect using "Fidelity Investments Mac" (I do) but it won't help, Quicken will still require it be an investment account. This isn't anything new, either - it's been like that since I set up my first CMA back in 2016 - so I don't know how you were ever able to do it differently.

I don't have any experience with the other account types you mention, so can't offer any advice there.

NotACPA

Fidelity Investments is a brokerage, not a bank. BY LAW, they're not allowed to offer true "checking accounts".

What they CAN do, however, is offer Money Market accounts that act like checking accounts.

These accounts ARE properly classified as brokerage accountsl

AJ-from-NJ

@NotACPA and @Jon: I don't think either of you understand this product from Fidelity. Do either of you actually have a CMA with Fidelity?

@Jon It is not a brokerage account. I can neither buy nor hold stocks, bonds, etc. in it. It is, in fact, a checking account. You're probably confusing it with cash holdings in a brokerage account. That's not what I am talking about.

@NotACPA Yes, of course Fidelity Investments is a brokerage, but the CMA is offered by Fidelity in partnership with UMB, N.A., a bank, which handles the usual banking side of things (e.g., check books, ATM transactions, etc.). UMB does not allow Fidelity customers to work with them directly. Everything has to be routed through Fidelity, including Quicken access.

There is more info on Fidelity's Web site if you are so inclined: Fidelity.com » Products » Spending & Saving » Cash Management Account

Now … back to the question … can anyone help me here?

Jon

I've had two CMAs in the last eight years. I currently own a mutual fund in my CMA, so I think I understand it better than you do.

Jon

And if you go to the page you pointed us to, right there in the fine print:

"The Fidelity Cash Management Account ("Account") is a brokerage account…".

If you scroll down the page a bit:

You absolutely can invest from within your CMA. It's fine if you don't, but if you try to connect your Quicken CMA account to Fidelity then Fidelity is going to tell Quicken that it's a brokerage account and Quicken cannot pretend it's a checking account.

NotACPA

@AJ-from-NJ

Yes I have a Fidelity CMA. I'm a client of Fidelity Private Wealth and, as my signature line indicates, I'm a retired Bank Audit VP.

I.E., I under stand this product MUCH better than you do!

AJ-from-NJ

Well, gentlemen, Quicken "pretended" the CMA was a checking account for the last several years, until it all stopped working about 4 weeks ago. So your answers really don't make any sense. Thanks for nothing.

Jon

I don't know what loophole you found to make that work, but apparently it's been closed. And if you had ever moved any of your cash out of the core FDIC position I think you would have had a mess on your hands trying to make Quicken deal with that in a checking account, so you got lucky in two ways. But the party's over now; sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

jacobs

This all said, let me ask perhaps a silly question: is there any reason you can't use the brokerage account in Quicken just as you would if it were a checking account in Quicken? The only difference is that if you manually enter transactions, you have the one extra field to fill in: Type=Payment/Deposit. You can have all the same fields/columns as you would in a checking account. You can reconcile cash like a checking account. In fact, I think you can select all the transactions in your old Quicken checking account and drag them into the new Fidelity account and everything will stay the same. Aside from this money showing in the left sidebar under Investing rather than Cash, is there a reason this wouldn't work for you?