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RBC Bank transaction downloads - Express Web Connect vs Web Connect

DJS

Running Windows Quicken Classic Business and Personal V R59.9 — Typically I use OneStepUpdate and receive banking transactions via EWC from RBC Royal Bank. Sometimes when I don't think some recent transactions have come through with that method, I will go to the RBC site and use Web Connect and it will pick up the "missing" transactions.

I recently decided to switch to using Web Connect as my standard method so that I don't miss the transactions in the scenario above. Today however, I have the reverse situation, I had missing transactions when using WC and then when I ran EWC through OSU the "missing" transactions came through.

Bottom line, I am able to download all my transactions from RBC Royal Bank, but I'm mystified about the inconsistency with the two methods. Any advice from other RBC users? Thanks.

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Arctic Hare

Firstly, it is highly recommended that you do not switch between the two methods. Switching between methods, or using both methods in an alternating manner is likely to cause issues.

In brief, Web Connect is the more secure, stable, reliable method. The only disadvantage - and it is a significant disadvantage - is it is considerably more time consuming. I used Express Web Connect for a very long time with RBC and BMO - measured in decades; however, I've reverted to using Web Connect for a couple reasons. Express Web Connect provides incorrect transaction posting dates. This is simply a fact with RBC and BMO. Secondly, multi-factor authentication can cause issues with EWC - it depends on a few factors and your situation may be different than mine - MFA does cause issues for me. Finally, because I have to turn off MFA to get EWC to work, I am not comfortable with the security risks.

My recommendation to you is to use Web Connect and only Web Connect with RBC for now. Canada is moving to Open Banking and I hope that we see support for that in Quicken. I believe that would be presented as EWC+ (note the "+"). However, the EWC service is provided by Intuit and Intuit and Quicken are now separate companies, so if and when we get EWC+ for RBC (and other Canadian financial institutions) depends more on Inuit than Quicken.

In summary, I recommend using only Web Connect until such time that EWC+ is made available. If you use only Web Connect, I fully expect there will be no missing transactions. If you still have missing transactions while using only Web Connect then we need to look at other possible causes.

I suggest you post back here after you have tried using ONLY Web Connect for two weeks.

DJS

Arctic Hare — Thank you for your input and guidance. I will stick with using only Web Connect going forward and see if there's better consistency in transaction downloads as a result. Thanks again for weighing in.

Arctic Hare

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20465009#Comment_20465009

Great - one more thing to keep in mind is that, with both methods, there is delay/difference between the most recent transactions you can see when you log into your bank's website and what transactions are included in the most recent download. There are a number of factors involved in determining when a transaction downloads, and I won't get into all the details here, but as a general rule, your downloads will likely lag what you can see in your bank's portal by at least one, possibly two business days. So, if you first see a transaction on a Monday in the banks portal, it may not download by either method until Tuesday or Wednesday evening. I've found that this behaviour also differs between financial institutions. My BMO transactions sometimes download the same day they were made; I don't think I've ever got a same day transaction from RBC. Also, depending on a couple of factors, transactions won't download until they transition from pending to posted. So, if a transaction remains in a pending state for more than a day, which somtimes happens, the delay could be longer. The whole point here is that there is a difference between a "missing" transaction and one that simply hasn't downloaded yet. Just because you can see a transaction in your bank's portal and it doesn't appear in your latest download doesn't mean that it is missing… you may need to wait 1, 2 (or, rarely, more than two) business days for the transaction to download. In most cases, transactions download one business day after they are posted, but there are exceptions to this, depending on the method you are using and even time of day. i.e. if you make a transaction on Friday, expect it to download after close of business on Monday. Make a transaction on a Saturday, most likely it will download Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning (I'd typically get it Tuesday evening with BMO and Wed morning with RBC). Hope this helps.

DJS

Arctic Hare — thank you again, all good info to know :)