Wells Fargo - Connection Methods - Again but different

Chris_QPW

Actually, let me get the full details straight.

Are you able to set all of your accounts at Well Fargo to Direct Connect, but don't want to because you want to use Online Bills? (and now that combination is now not working)

Or is it that you aren't able to get all of your accounts setup for Direct Connect?

Bob.

The former.

All are now Direct Connect as I cannot lose that function for WELLS Bill Pay. But, the Online Biller for the Wells CC no longer works as it will only grab a bill with EWC+. And so I am "forced" to have all as Direct Connect.

I do have Wells CC in EWC+ in a test file and it does work there. But it is just my test bed.

And as I mentioned, using BOTH connection types worked perefectly until about a month ago. I am sure there is a dated post when it started to fail. My memory no longer that sharp, but about a month sounds about right for the latest change. Maybe two builds back?

Chris_QPW

I can think of three reasons for such a change.

1. Bug
2. Changed because something in the system that isn't apparent to user changed and required this change.
3. [Removed - Speculation/Inaccurate]

My strongest bet is on #1, with definitely #2 being a possibility.

The next question is where #1 or #2 took place.

It is entirely possible that it is something in Quicken (the program) that changed, but as I think about it, my bet would more likely be something outside of Quicken. Seeing if was the program is pretty straightforward. You revert to a version before it started happening and see if that corrects the problem. If not, you can pretty much assume it was changed at the server level.

And I doubt you will ever get an explanation of what was changed and why. That information is seldom shared by Quicken Inc.

I will say that I now see that the original bug that I was referring to, actually did get fixed. There was a period of time where you couldn't get Direct Connect setup again if the financial institution also allowed Express Web Connect +, but I see that is possible now. Like I said, I have no way of testing any of this, and I'm just going by what I see posted in this forum.

Chris_QPW

Actually, I sort of take back one thing I said:

Seeing if was the program is pretty straightforward. You revert to a version before it started happening and see if that corrects the problem.

It USED TO BE pretty straightforward. I sort of forgot that I have stopped trying to "go back in time" even with just the data file, let alone the program version. In the past you could do this for the most part and have no problems, but I have found that with Express Web Connect + now in the picture (which may or may not apply to you) it gets messed up if you try to go back even a short period of time. I end up having to reset all my accounts, so I don't do that much anymore. But this is the data file, so maybe just reverting the program version might not do this. I don't know but take this as a warning that it might cause you problems.

Boatnmaniac

Some banks allow for use of more than one connection setup and some do not.

I know that until a while back WF did allow for both EWC and DC connections for me. But at some point this dual connection ability stopped….maybe when EWC+ replaced EWC? At any rate, I have not been able to reestablish both a DC connection for the checking account and an EWC+ connection for the credit card account ever since.

This is not an uncommon issue with financial institutions that offer both EWC+ and DC but do not have unique Quicken financial institutions for each one. For instance, PNC Bank has PNC - Virtual Wallet for EWC+ connections and PNC Bank - Direct Connect for DC connections. Works great because they are separate FIs in Quicken. Fidelity does the same thing with Fidelity Investments for DC and Fidelity - Investments and Retirement Accounts for EWC+. But WF is not set up like this and unless and until they are I don't see this issue being resolved to your satisfaction.

Now, it's just a guess but maybe there is a workaround. Set up a 2nd unique login to the online WF account. This is pretty easy to do if you have a 2nd authorized person on the account but maybe not possible if you are the only person on that account.

If you can set up a 2nd login to WF, try setting up your checking account with DC using this 2nd login and keep the credit card with EWC+ with your current login. It might not work. But I am able to have 1 EWC+ setup for my 3 PNC accounts using my login as well as another EWC+ setup for these same 3 accounts using my wife's login. (I did this in a test account to see if it was possible. I did OSU in this test file for a few weeks to see how well it worked.) So, maybe having 2 different logins might also allow you to set up your checking account with DC and your credit card account with EWC+. It's a long shot but maybe…..

Bob.

Thanks @Boatnmaniac As you might have read above, a true tech at Wells (not a customer support person) says they are not preventing this. He is testing as I described and hopefully will confirm he also has the issue we both have and if so promised to open a dialog with Quicken. But frankly, between the posts here and "backstage" dialogs this is getting to be a bit much. Seems little thank yous for finding new bugs and less interest for fixing them for edge cases like you and I. And I have not had one months in maybe 3 years or more where ALL Online Billers worked in the same month :)

PNC has the right idea! Fidelity does similar. Easier for them as their credit cardcome in under Elan Financial.

With Wells, I am the only person, alas. But interesting idea. When/if Wells callls me back I will ask if I can have a separate email / login for my CC. Its a clever idea.

Thanks, as always, for your input and insights.

~Bob