Two separate AMEX accounts, one disables when other downloads

Question

Wife has her AMEX account, I have mine, both from before we were married. I manage everything in Quicken, including both credit cards.

Suddenly, her account wouldn't update with One Step Update, threw an 'Unable to Update' error.

So after all other accounts were OK, I did one step update on hers, all went fine, downloaded her transactions…which made MY AMEX account is now 'Unable to Download.'

Went back to do one step update, and I see that it lists BOTH accounts being updated, so when it throws to the AMEX site for login (something it only started doing within last year or less,) it only asks for ONE logon, which only applies to ONE of the AMEX accounts, and so the OTHER AMEX account is set to 'Unable To Update.'

I'm not sure where the bad programming is, at the Quicken end for assuming both accounts have the same login, or at AMEX, for not requiring a separate login for each account Quicken sends to AMEX for download.

But it's bad programming.

lbolwell · Answer

Having the same problem with all credit cards SINCE THE LAST UPDATE THAT I DOWNLOADED THIS WEEK!   Not just AMEX, All Chase Cards.

Boatnmaniac · Answer

…when it throws to the AMEX site for login (something it only started doing within last year or less,) it only asks for ONE logon, which only applies to ONE of the AMEX accounts…

When there are 2 separate accounts at a financial institution with different logins for each, those accounts need to be set up with different EWC+ connections so there needs to be 2 separate Add Account or Set Up Now procedures….one for your AMEX account and another for your wife's AMEX account.

Do you save your login information in your browser so you browser can automatically enter it when you try to login?

If so, when there are multiple logins saved in the browser for a website, when on the logon screen the browser will select one login to use.  If it is not the login you want to use you should be able to manually edit the login to change it to the correct one.  You are not able to manually edit the login information?

BTW, I do agree with @Tom Young:  Deactivate both accounts first and then do Add Account for each account independently.

Tom Young · Answer

This sort of problem has cropped up many times in here with different financial institutions and it seems to have arisen about the time of the wide-spread movement of so many financial institutions to Express Web Connect+, the method AMEX now uses.

I've not seem an official explanation from Quicken as to why or how this happens, (admittedly, I've not looked too hard having not experienced the problem personally), but I think one thing to try here is to deactivate both Accounts from downloading.  That allows you to delete the Financial Institution and Account Number information in each Account.  Then "Sign in as a different user", and then use the Add new Account process, one Account at a time.  Quicken should "find" each account at AMEX and then you LINK the individual accounts to the existing Quicken Account.