Why multiple requests to reauthorize my AMEX account in Quicken?

carlj07

Over the past several weeks, I have been getting periodic texts from AMEX with a one-time online use code. Although I did not personally request the code, I immediately thought of Quicken as the "requestor" because of similar posts in this forum in the past.

Sure enough, when I go into Quicken and update my bills from the Bills & Income tab (AMEX is setup as an Online Biller), my AMEX bill then gets moved from the bottom of the list (Awaiting Next Bill) to the top of the list with a yellow triangle. Clicking on the yellow triangle and then clicking on Fix It does nothing, other than seeming to request another one-time online use code from AMEX, which I receive again via text. No other pop-up window from Quicken to enter this code.

I then go to my AMEX account in Quicken and then into the Edit Account Details | Online Services | Reset Account, where a logon page is then displayed to enter my AMEX logon ID, password, AND a one-time online user code (which I just received via text). After that is successfully entered, Quicken appears happy and moves my AMEX bill to the bottom of the Bills & Income page and says it's awaiting next bill.

I can only assume that when Quicken periodically checks my Online Billers for the current bill, it is generating this one-time use code from AMEX every time. This hasn't been an issue until recently. Why? And how do I stop this behavior for this Online Biller (AMEX)?

BTW, I am able to download my AMEX transactions without issue and without generating this one-time use code each time I try to update my AMEX account. This issue seems to be tied solely to Quicken checking my AMEX account for the most recent online bill.

Anyone else having a similar issue with AMEX as an Online Biller?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @carlj07,

You're not the only one encountering this issue. Several customers using Quicken for Mac have encountered this issue also:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7955154/quicken-cant-stay-logged-in-to-amex

This issue has been reported to our Development and Product teams for further investigation and resolution. Though we do not currently have an ETA, once a solution is created it will be made available as part of a future release. If you would like to contribute to the investigation please navigate to Help > Report a problem and submit a problem report with log files attached. While you will not receive a response through this submission, these reports will help our teams in further investigating the issue. The more problem reports we receive, the better.

Thank you!

(CTP-10810)

UKR

If your bank recently required you to reauthorize your account and/or your bank has changed from "Direct Connect" to "Express Web Connect" or "Express Web Connect+" you can no longer use Online Bill Pay direct to the bank or Quicken Bill Manager's Quick Pay function. The bank no longer supports this function through Quicken. And that's most likely the reason why you're seeing unsolicited-by-you code text message requests from AmEx.

IMHO, you have these alternatives (in no particular order of preference):

1. Use Quicken Bill Manager's Check Pay making sure to submit payment early enough (at least 3 weeks before due date) to allow time for delivery and processing. Note: limited number of free transactions per month.
2. Every month logon to the bank's website and, using the bank's Bill Pay service, schedule your bill pay payments to be executed by the bank from your checking account. In parallel to that, in Quicken use a regular Scheduled Reminder to record your payment. Repeat both actions every time another payment is due.
3. Bypass Bill Manager. Let the biller's (or credit card company's) computer system do all the work for you. Logon to the biller's website once and set up their Autopay, APS, Direct debit, etc. service to make the current payment and all future payments on Due Date directly from your checking account. In parallel to that, in Quicken, every month, record a regular Scheduled Reminder to keep track of your payments before they come due.
4. Write (or print with Quicken) a paper check and mail it to the biller, making sure to mail payment early enough (at least 10 days before due date) to allow time for delivery and processing.

I've been using method #3 for decades, since before the Internet and transaction download capabilities were even introduced. It's easy to get used to this process. And I have yet to miss a single payment.

carlj07

To Quicken Kristina - I submitted my Problem Report yesterday evening. Looking forward to a resolution.

To UKR - thanks for the recommendations. However, the problem is recent and does not involve any recent change in the connection method with AMEX. As I stated in my original post, I can routinely download AMEX transactions into Quicken without any issues. The issue, which Quicken Kristina confirmed, only exists when Quicken queries AMEX for the current billing statement and this just began within the past few weeks. FYI, I already do your method #3 for my bill payments (autopay) because I determined long ago that Quicken Bill Pay was way too quirky to be 100% dependable and I would never use Quicken's Check Pay because of the complete unreliability of the USPS, regardless of the long lead time to send a check and have it arrive ontime. The only reason I continue to use the Online Billers in Quicken is as a single source for downloading current billing statements from my Online Billers for reconciliation purposes and as a backup reminder if I should miss the monthly email billing statement from the merchant/utility to be sure it is posted in Quicken on/before the Due Date.