Express Web Connect is a Disaster Waiting to Happen. Am I Right?

hugh_mul

Tell me if I’m wrong about the following:

Express web connect stops downloading certain accounts without warning. There is no date sometimes in the “Cleared transactions and online balances updated on”.

Multiple accounts from the same company have different “as of” dates.

Some “as of” dates are from the prior month end.

Some accounts have current downloads and still no “as of” date.

The dates on the onestep update summary are misleading. I have discovered accounts with few transactions haven’t downloaded in months but there is no indication you have to “reauthorize”.

I have 13 individual accounts from various banks, credit card and brokerage organizations. I count on Quicken to keep all these accounts current. I don’t know if some of them are current or not.

Here is my ‘Disaster” scenario. A savings or brokerage account that appears current hasn’t been updated in days or even weeks. Even though the account appears current, it’s NOT. It’s been hacked. The money is gone, the account is empty and it's too late to track the tranaction.

Ps56k2

You need to make the subtle distinction between EWC and the newer EWC+
…. Tools —> Account List

They all go thru an aggregator - Intuit - and then on to the actual financial institution…
With several moving pieces, it's hard to tell where the missing info is being created or dropped.
A few of your mentioned items have been discussed as issues/bugs -

Scotsman

I am having to use both EWC and EWC+ on my Wells Fargo Account. Only the checking account can be downloaded in one step, while savings account must be downloaded by going to the website and downloading manually with EWC.

Ps56k2

 while savings account must be downloaded by going to the website and downloading manually with EWC.

you mean - Web Connect -

QuickUserPSP

@Scotsman you seem to have several duplicate posts with the identical issue. I am reposting the answer I provided to your other post.

@Scotsman - I would deactivate both accounts, and then reactivate them by "adding a new account" rather than reconnecting online services.

1. Make a backup of your data file.
2. Deactivate both accounts by going into the Online Services tab in Account Details and clicking on "Deactivate".
3. On the General tab, clear out the bank name and account number.
4. Then go to "Add an Account". You either click on the "+" or go to the Account List and click on "Add Account".
5. Enter your username and password when prompted. It will go through the authorization process and then bring you back to Quicken.
6. When it gets to the Add Accounts screen where it lists the accounts found, you should see both the checking and savings accounts.
7. Carefully link each account to the existing account on Quicken.
8. Finish the process until it shows the "Accounts Added" screen.

You should then be connected with both accounts using EWC+

mshiggins

@hugh_mul

I would not rely on Quicken as your sole means of identifying fraudulent charges. You can likely set up text alerts on your financial institutions’ websites for all transactions or even transaction amounts over a specific dollar amount. Those text alerts will be far more timely than Quicken transaction downloads.

Ps56k2

Here is my ‘Disaster” scenario. A savings or brokerage account that appears current hasn’t been updated in days or even weeks. Even though the account appears current, it’s NOT. It’s been hacked. The money is gone, the account is empty and it's too late to track the transaction.

yeah - agree with @mshiggins - this is not even remotely related to what Quicken does…
If your intent is to know when and how funds are moving in your accounts - then …
A - you need to use Quicken and download transactions daily - can't say you don't do it for WEEKS and claim Quicken is at fault
B - you setup and use the banking/brokerage Alerts - I have setup my alerts for anything over $1.00 - to text me -

hugh_mul

Ps56k2 You missed my point:

A) I do download transactions daily, for all 13 accounts. EWC+ does not always download transactions or balances, it just stops without warning. The dates are meaningless because if there are no downloads it doesn't update the date in the One Step Update Summary. You have no way to tell if it's working or not. Better check your downloads.

B) Sounds annoyingly tedious.

hugh_mul

Current example of Express Web Connect+ only working sometimes. Sold shares at Schwab on 3/6/24. Transferred funds to checking and paid Fed. W/H tax. All 3 transactions just downloaded today, 3/20/24. I download from Schwab every day, where were these transactions hiding???

BK

@hugh_mul

We are here in this community to help and learn from each other - that is my only objective. I second what @mshiggins and others have mentioned wrt/ not relying on Quicken to identify potential fraud. That is not what it is meant to do. I have my alerts setup at every FI to inform me accordingly - you probably do as well.

My downloads have been timely and reasonably accurate for years with perhaps couple of missed transactions per year for 30+ connected accounts mostly EWC/+.

Schwab: I have three accounts where two of them download (and categorize) the interest as "Deposit" (where I manually correct to IntInc) and the third one comes down correctly as "IntInc". The issue is in the inconsistency of the data that Schwab prepares for download - I verified that it is their fault where two of my accounts reside on their legacy system and the third one on a different one. Go figure! I am not saying that Schwab is the culprit in your specific case, rather suggesting that you may look into taking some actions such as what @QuickUserPSP outlined - (I would also add Resetting your cloud data into that process to start cleaner and you can research it). Another troubleshooting options is to start a new test data file and add only Schwab to it to see how it behaves and compare.

RE: I download from Schwab every day, where were these transactions hiding???

One of many long-shot possibilities is cloud sync. Are you also accessing Quicken thru mobile or web? If yes, be aware that it sometimes creates a syncing conflict because more systems are involved into the equation and hence more chances of something going wrong - a longtime sporadic issue. If no, and if you have not already, disable that option in Edit > Preferences > Mobile & Web.