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Differences between DC, WC and EWC - When to use

QwikOne

Although not really new to Quicken, I remain an amateur compared to many. One area upon which I would like more information is connection to any and all financial institutions. What are the differences between Direct Connect, Web Connect, and Express Web Connect. And I have a "+" after my banks' Express Web Connect.

All my banks are Express Web Connect+ and Investment firms are Direct Connect.

Is there a preferred connection method, who/what determines which connection method is employed when adding a new account?

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Accepted answers

NotACPA

The only downside to DC is that SOME financial institutions charge for it. NOTE, it's the FI, not Q, that's imposing this charge … but many will call it a "Quicken Charge" (or somesuch) and mislead you.

US Bank's implementation of EWC is so flaky that I consider $3.95/month for DC to be money well-spent. But then, I have 5 accounts with them.

Boatnmaniac

US Bank's implementation of EWC is so flaky that I consider $3.95/month for DC to be money well-spent.

I agree that US Bank's implementation of EWC was very poor but they converted to EWC+ a little over a year ago and that has, for the most part, been working very well and is pretty reliable. I have 4 US Bank accounts set up with EWC+ and have been pretty pleased with how well it has been performing. But if it weren't for the $3.95 monthly fee they charge (I absolutely hate paying a monthly fee for most things and will only pay monthly fees when I have absolutely no other choice) I would switch to DC in a heartbeat.

Chris_QPW

@QwikOne The financial institutions determine what connection types they will support, but I'm not sure if it is Quicken or the financial institution that determines which is the "default". These days it mostly looks like if both Direct Connect and if either Express Web Connect or Express Web Connect + is available it defaults to the Express Web Connect (or +, note you never have both Express Web Connect and Express Web Connect + as options at the same financial institution).

So, mostly this has to be selected by selecting "Advanced Options" link in the Add Account dialog:

Boatnmaniac

@QwikOne - Clarification: Only some financial institutions charge a monthly fee for DC and US Bank is one of those that does. I am not aware of any investment companies that charge a monthly fee for DC. There are no monthly fees involved for the other connection methods.

My preference for DC is multifaceted and are listed as follows (in no particular order). Everyone needs to decide for themself which of these are important and a priority and which are not. What I can say is that when given a choice I will always prioritize the connection method I use in this order: DC (provided there is no monthly fee), EWC+, EWC, WC. And for the most part I believe most if not all of the other Super Users would agree with me on that.

DC IS MORE SECURE:

The DC UserID and PW are saved in PW Vault which resides only in the data file on the computer (unless you are using Mobile or Web in which case it also resides in the Cloud Account).
Login information for EWC is saved in the Cloud Account, not in the data file.
Login information for EWC+ is not saved anywhere but instead relies on a security token that is provided by the financial institution to the aggregator (Inuit).
DC connects directly from the PC to the financial institution.
EWC and EWC+ connections are made by the aggregator (Intuit) to the financial institutions. EWC connections to financial institutions are generally made at night after business hours and when many people are sleeping.
DC downloaded data resides only on your computer (unless you have Mobile and Web enabled in which case it also resides in the Cloud Account).
The data downloaded via EWC/EWC+ by the aggregator resides on their server waiting for us to run OSU or Update Now to download it from there.
The only connection method that is perhaps more secure than DC is Web Connect (WC)….manually downloading and importing transactions in a QFX file from the online account.

DC IS THE FASTEST CONNECTION METHOD.

In my main data file I have 4 financial institutions with 12 accounts set up with DC. I have a similar number of financial institutions & accounts set up with EWC and EWC+.
During OSU my DC downloads complete in about 15-20 seconds.
My EWC/EWC+ accounts generally complete OSU in about 1.5-2 minutes.
For people who have time on their hands and don't mind waiting, the connection speed is perhaps not so important but for others the slower EWC/EWC+ speeds can be very frustrating.

DC IS MORE LIKELY TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME DATA DOWNLOADS (BUT THIS DOES NOT ALWAYS HOLD TRUE). EWC AND EWC+ CONNECTIONS ARE MOST LIKELY TO PROVIDE DATA FROM THE CLOSE OF THE PRIOR BUSINESS DAY.

DC IS A 2-WAY COMMUNICATION METHOD. THE OTHER METHODS ARE 1-WAY.:

2-way communications (downloading from the financial institution + sending information back to the financial institution) are necessary for DC Bank Bill Pay. DC Bank Bill Pay is a great feature to have if the bank supports it. In fact, there are Quicken users who will actually change banks solely to be able to get DC Bank Bill Pay.
If the bank doesn't support DC Bank Bill Pay then the 2-way communications benefit is not really a factor.

DC WITH INVESTMENT COMPANIES ALWAYS SUPPORTS BOTH COMPLETE TRACKING AND SIMPLE TRACKING. EWC DOES NOT SUPPORT INVESTMENTS DOWNLOADS. EWC+ DOES SUPPORT INVESTMENTS DOWNLOADS BUT WITH MANY INVESTMENT COMPANIES ONLY SIMPLE TRACKING IS SUPPORTED.

Complete Tracking: Accounts have registers with complete transactions history being present and editable.
Simple Tracking: Does not have registers and the only transactions that can be viewed are Cash transactions. It has a dashboard with several cards showing high-level portfolio information such as, account value, top holdings and values, latest price and price change, account value over time.

THERE ARE FEWER CONNECTION ISSUES ENCOUNTERED WITH DC THAN WITH EWC/EWC+.:

Kind of makes sense because there are 2 parties involved with DC connections/downloads (the Quicken application + the financial institution) but EWC/EWC+ have 4 parties involved (the Quicken application + the aggregator + the financial institution + Quicken servers) so there is less that can go wrong with DC connections.
Because EWC/EWC+ has more parties involved it can take longer (sometimes much longer, but not always) to get OSU issues resolved.

Clear as mud? 😏

All comments

splasher

See this link: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-connects-your-bank/ for the difference between the download methods.

DC is the preferred if it is available, it is directly between your computer and the financial institution.

Personally, I don't like the idea of my data sitting on an aggregator's servers for desktop Quicken to collect it. With that mindset, Web Connect is my second choice since my data is never on the aggregator's servers. I don't use EWC or EWC+.

NotACPA

US Bank's implementation of EWC is so flaky that I consider $3.95/month for DC to be money well-spent. But then, I have 5 accounts with them.

Boatnmaniac

US Bank's implementation of EWC is so flaky that I consider $3.95/month for DC to be money well-spent.

QwikOne

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7955053/differences-between-dc-wc-and-ewc-when-to-use

Thanks for all the input. One question still remains (well two actually), at the time of adding the account who determines EWC+ vs DC. I don't ever remember being offered the option. And secondly, how would one go about getting the type of connection changed (i.e. EWC+ → DC)?

Chris_QPW

So, mostly this has to be selected by selecting "Advanced Options" link in the Add Account dialog:

Boatnmaniac

So, mostly this has to be selected by selecting "Advanced Options" link in the Add Account dialog:

If there is no "Advanced Options" link shown it means there is only 1 connection method available for that specific financial institution link.

However, it needs to be noted that it is not uncommon for a financial institution to have multiple set up links, each with their own specific connection purpose. For instance, in Add Account type in "US Bank" in the search field. You will find quite a few listings for US Bank and selecting the correct one or ones for you accounts can be critical for getting set up for downloads. Sometimes it is somewhat intuitive about what each link is for but it is not always clear. When it's not clear, it often boils down to trial and error (trying one link at a time until you find one that works), asking questions here in Quicken Community or going the the financial institutions website and down a search for "Quicken." I also like to open the FIDIR List file (FIDIR.txt) which lists all the different financial institutions that support Quicken, which connection methods they support and which types of accounts/data they will download. (If you want to see this file you can do a Windows search for "fidir.txt"….just be careful not to change anything in it.

Specific to you your question about how you can change your connection from EWC+ to DC:

US Bank is one of those financial institutions that has quite a few different financial institution links, including one for EWC+ (U.S. Bank Internet Banking) and one for DC (U.S. Bank - PFM Direct Connect). So, if you wish to make this connection change you will need to first deactivate your EWC+ connection and then set up a new connection with the DC setup.
But before you try doing this, you might want to review the US Bank article at this URL: https://www.usbank.com/bank-accounts/checking-accounts/checking-customer-resources/quicken.html.
@NotACPA has DC set up with US Bank so if you have specific issues or questions regarding it, I think he would be a good resource for you.

NotACPA

If you want to use DC with US Bank, you'll need to contact the bank also … as there are things that they do on their end to enable DC.

QwikOne

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20448605#Comment_20448605

Your desire to switch to DC suggests it is faster/more robust/more reliable/all of the above?? And I agree that $3.95 is a bit much especially if EWC+ is getting the job done. I am assuming DC may be faster which would benefit companies routinely updating large numbers of accounts and huge sums of account data.

Also, the two investment firms that I have (Vanguard, Fidelity) in Quicken both have DC. I don't know where they are hiding the monthly connection fee. Probably their account service fee.

Boatnmaniac

DC IS MORE SECURE:

The DC UserID and PW are saved in PW Vault which resides only in the data file on the computer (unless you are using Mobile or Web in which case it also resides in the Cloud Account).
Login information for EWC is saved in the Cloud Account, not in the data file.
Login information for EWC+ is not saved anywhere but instead relies on a security token that is provided by the financial institution to the aggregator (Inuit).
DC connects directly from the PC to the financial institution.
EWC and EWC+ connections are made by the aggregator (Intuit) to the financial institutions. EWC connections to financial institutions are generally made at night after business hours and when many people are sleeping.
DC downloaded data resides only on your computer (unless you have Mobile and Web enabled in which case it also resides in the Cloud Account).
The data downloaded via EWC/EWC+ by the aggregator resides on their server waiting for us to run OSU or Update Now to download it from there.
The only connection method that is perhaps more secure than DC is Web Connect (WC)….manually downloading and importing transactions in a QFX file from the online account.

DC IS THE FASTEST CONNECTION METHOD.

In my main data file I have 4 financial institutions with 12 accounts set up with DC. I have a similar number of financial institutions & accounts set up with EWC and EWC+.
During OSU my DC downloads complete in about 15-20 seconds.
My EWC/EWC+ accounts generally complete OSU in about 1.5-2 minutes.
For people who have time on their hands and don't mind waiting, the connection speed is perhaps not so important but for others the slower EWC/EWC+ speeds can be very frustrating.

DC IS MORE LIKELY TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME DATA DOWNLOADS (BUT THIS DOES NOT ALWAYS HOLD TRUE). EWC AND EWC+ CONNECTIONS ARE MOST LIKELY TO PROVIDE DATA FROM THE CLOSE OF THE PRIOR BUSINESS DAY.

DC IS A 2-WAY COMMUNICATION METHOD. THE OTHER METHODS ARE 1-WAY.:

2-way communications (downloading from the financial institution + sending information back to the financial institution) are necessary for DC Bank Bill Pay. DC Bank Bill Pay is a great feature to have if the bank supports it. In fact, there are Quicken users who will actually change banks solely to be able to get DC Bank Bill Pay.
If the bank doesn't support DC Bank Bill Pay then the 2-way communications benefit is not really a factor.

Complete Tracking: Accounts have registers with complete transactions history being present and editable.
Simple Tracking: Does not have registers and the only transactions that can be viewed are Cash transactions. It has a dashboard with several cards showing high-level portfolio information such as, account value, top holdings and values, latest price and price change, account value over time.

THERE ARE FEWER CONNECTION ISSUES ENCOUNTERED WITH DC THAN WITH EWC/EWC+.:

Kind of makes sense because there are 2 parties involved with DC connections/downloads (the Quicken application + the financial institution) but EWC/EWC+ have 4 parties involved (the Quicken application + the aggregator + the financial institution + Quicken servers) so there is less that can go wrong with DC connections.
Because EWC/EWC+ has more parties involved it can take longer (sometimes much longer, but not always) to get OSU issues resolved.

Clear as mud? 😏

QwikOne

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20449361#Comment_20449361

Yup, that about covers ANYTHING I would ever want to know about connections😉. VERY Thorough. Thanks a ton.