Quicken no longer downloads memo field for Costco Citi Visa account

tdubnicka

I've seen another thread on this, but I'm still having this problem. The Costco Citi bill is divided by user, so when Quicken used to download the cardholder name into the Memo field, it was easy to reconcile the bill. "Don't update memo when downloading" is not checked. I'm on EWC+. Help is appreciated, thanks.

Boatnmaniac

@tdubnicka - Having to go back to look for dupes and correct the Opening Transaction balance is only needed if and when after changing the connection method you find there is an issue with the account balance. Most of the time, those issues do not occur.

It is the financial institutions that decides which connection method(s) they want to support. The push for EWC+ is primarily coming from them. While some financial institutions have stopped or are stopping support for DC (and for WC) in favor of EWC+, not all are doing this. There are actually quite a few financial institutions that still support DC even after they have cut in EWC+. And DC is actually the preferred download method when it is supported by the financial institution because it is faster, more reliable and more secure than EWC and EWC+.

I think the message is that if you want the name of the person making the charge to be included in the downloaded Memo field you need to change your connection method from EWC+ to DC. Change the connection method to DC and start getting the names in the Memo field right away or keep the EWC+ connection not knowing if nor when the names will ever be downloaded into the Memo field. The choice is yours.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @tdubnicka,

Thank you for coming to the Community to let us know you're running into this issue. To help with this, please provide more information. When did this first start? Was there anything that happened around the same time (such as a program or computer update)?

To check if it's downloading correctly, but being changed after it's downloaded, right click on one of the problem transactions. Look for a "Revert to" option.

Select that option and check to see if the memo appears after you revert the transaction.

I look forward to your response!

UKR

As far as I can determine, the cardholder's name was included in the Downloaded Memo Text until April 2024 and then it stopped being transmitted.

Looking at the Citi website, the transaction detail still displays the cardholder's name with each transaction.

I assume that a format change made it impossible for screen scrape to correctly locate the cardholder's name and include it in the downloaded transactions. IMHO, this should be changed ASAP.

Boatnmaniac

As far as I can determine, the cardholder's name was included in the Downloaded Memo Text until April 2024 and then it stopped being transmitted

Wasn't April 2024 when EWC+ was first introduced for many (if not all) Citi credit cards?

I download this card with both DC (in my main data file) and with EWC+ (in a test file). For me:

1. DC still downloads the name of the person who made the purchase transaction in the Memo field.
2. EWC+ (which I converted to from DC in the test file on 10/18/2024) does not have the name of this person who made the purchase transaction in the Memo field. Prior to 10/18/2024 (when the connection method was still DC), the name of the person who made the purchase transaction is still reflected in the Memo field.

So, it sure seems like this is an issue with the EWC+ connection only and that it might not ever have been included in the Memo field of transactions downloaded via this connection method. In other words, maybe the EWC+ protocol is not scraping the Memo field info at all….whether it be intentional or unintentional.

If getting the Memo field info downloaded is important, then it seems the fastest means for getting that information is to backup the data file and then do the following:

1. Enter the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount into the Memo field of that transaction. (Not essential to do this but it can be VERY helpful in troubleshooting should the dollar amount of this transaction get changed during the rest of this procedure.)
2. Back up the data file.
3. Deactivate the EWC+ connection.
4. Log into the online account and go to https://online.citi.com/US/ag/authorizedapps/manageaccess . Once there, add Quicken as an authorized app.
5. Then in Quicken, go to Add Account > select Citi Cards (at least that is the Citi option I am using for DC) > click on Advanced Options (not on Next) > select Direct Connect > follow the prompts to complete the rest of the setup process > make sure to Link the downloaded data to the account that is already present in Quicken.
6. If the account balance is not correct, check and correct as needed the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount. Then scroll backward through the account register looking for and deleting any duplicate transactions. (Duplicate transactions, if they occur, typically are found within the last 90-days).

Otherwise wait to see if the EWC+ connection will get changed to add the downloaded Memo filed information…..but that could be a VERY long wait.

tdubnicka

@Quicken Kristina sorry for the long delay, I was waiting for additional downloaded transactions to review. I don't recall exactly how long this has been happening, but it has been many, many months. To answer your earlier question, there is no "revert" option when I right click on a problem transaction (which is every transaction). Thanks, Tom

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend taking a look at @Boatnmaniac's earlier post in this discussion:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20475691#Comment_20475691

It sounds like switching to Direct Connect may be the way to get the memo information to download.

Thank you!

tdubnicka

@Quicken Kristina

Seems like a lot of work to implement that, what with having to go back and look for dupes, change balances, etc. Seems like something Quicken needs to fix? What is the time frame? I thought Quicken wanted us to switch to EWC+ some time ago? So now I'm supposed to go to DC?

Chris_QPW

I think something should be said about how express connect plus works. Which is sort of related to how direct connect works too. Both of these are standardized protocols. What this means to this discussion is there is a field in the data for the memo that is in the downloaded from the financial institution. This field and all the other fields like the payee name are filled in by the financial institution. With express Web connect plus it does go through the intuit and quicken servers, but they’re not going to manipulate the fields. In the case of direct connect, it’s directly between the financial quicken, but it is the financial institution that decided where it should go in the memo. Other than asking Citi to add this information into the memo, there isn’t anything that quicken Inc. can do about the fact that the information just isn’t there anymore.

Boatnmaniac

@tdubnicka - Having to go back to look for dupes and correct the Opening Transaction balance is only needed if and when after changing the connection method you find there is an issue with the account balance. Most of the time, those issues do not occur.

It is the financial institutions that decides which connection method(s) they want to support. The push for EWC+ is primarily coming from them. While some financial institutions have stopped or are stopping support for DC (and for WC) in favor of EWC+, not all are doing this. There are actually quite a few financial institutions that still support DC even after they have cut in EWC+. And DC is actually the preferred download method when it is supported by the financial institution because it is faster, more reliable and more secure than EWC and EWC+.

I think the message is that if you want the name of the person making the charge to be included in the downloaded Memo field you need to change your connection method from EWC+ to DC. Change the connection method to DC and start getting the names in the Memo field right away or keep the EWC+ connection not knowing if nor when the names will ever be downloaded into the Memo field. The choice is yours.

tdubnicka

Thanks for the feedback. Since DC is going away eventually I'll have to decide if I want to move away from EWC+ just to have to go back to it.