Payments tab not available in Online Center for Checking Account

pmarker

I have a PNC Checking account and a Michigan Education Credit Union(MECU) checking account. When I go to the Online Center I can make payments for my PNC Checking Account. The Payments tab does not show up when I select the MECU Checing account. When I go to the General Tab for the Account Details for the MECU Checking account I see that the Routing Number field is Blank which I think is causing the issue.

Question. Why would the routing field be blank for a checking account?

I have tried to Reset the Account on the Online Services Tab but that did not help in filling out the Routing field. I guess I could fill it out but I am thinking there must be a reason why the routing field is not filled out when I linked the bank account.

UKR

Are both checking accounts connected to their banks using "Direct Connect" as the download communications protocol?
If one of them is not / cannot be connected using Direct Connect, you cannot be using the old style Online Center to make payments. You would have to set up this account with the newer style Bill Manager, using Quick Pay and/or Check Pay as the make-payment mechanism. See the Account Details / Online Services tab for details on this. Alternatively, you can use the bank's Online Bill Pay service directly from the bank's website. Most of the bank's bill pay services are free (check with the bank), Quick Pay and Check Pay only allow for a limited number of free transactions per month.

pmarker

I checked MECU and it is setup for Express Web Connect. Does Quicken charge you to use Quick Pay or Check Pay?

UKR

Here's more information on pricing:

Quicken Bill Manager: How many payments can I make each month? | Quicken

pmarker

I am trying to enable my MECU account for Check Pay. I found a Support document that says to go to Bills and Income, select to the gear ICON then select Pay Bills with Bill Manager to accept the terms. When I select Pay Bills with Bill Manager it only provides me a tutorial on how to use Quick Pay and Check Pay but does not give me an option to enable MECU for Check Pay.

UKR

Which of these webpages were you looking at to get started?
Quicken Bill Tracking and Payment Made Easy | Quicken

Quicken Bill Manager: How To Set Up Quick Pay and Check Pay | Quicken

What feature level of "Classic Quicken for Windows" are you using: Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Business & Personal?

If you still have problems with getting started, call Quicken Support on the phone during posted hours of operation and let them talk you thru the process.

pmarker

I have Windows Business and Personal. I called Quicken Support and they had me deactivate and reactivate the site to see what kind of connections are available. MECU only had Express Web Connect and not Direct Connect. The support person said that Check Pay is not supported using Express Web Connect.

UKR

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20480655#Comment_20480655

The support person must have misspoken or been misunderstood.
Online Bill Pay, the old method, only works for bank accounts using Direct Connect.
Bill Manager Quick Pay and Check Pay are both available for checking accounts connected with Express Web Connect. Using the bank's Online Bill Pay service to make direct transfers / payments or mail checks is not supported in this case.

First, you need to go thru a setup process to enable your MECU account. Once that's done, you should be OK to proceed with setting up your first online biller.

Quick Pay accesses the biller's website (not the bank's Bill Pay service) to make a one-time payment as instructed by you. Payment is made in the form of a direct debit (ACH debit) from your checking account. If supported by the biller, you can also use a credit card to make payment. Not all billers support this service and/or have even stopped supporting it, for security reasons, they say.

If Quick Pay is not supported by the biller, Check Pay uses a third party service provider which prints checks drawn directly on your MECU account and then mails those checks to the payee. You should allow up to 3 weeks for the entire process of printing, mailing the check, delivery to the payee and processing by payee before due date.

Using the biller's / payee's / vendor's / credit card company's Autopay service (aka Direct Debit, APS, etc.) instead of Check Pay can automate the process. Every month, automatically on or before the Due Date, the Autopay process directly debits your bank account for the amount due. This avoids missing or being late on payments and I highly recommend it.
In Quicken all you need to record payment is a "regular" scheduled reminder (not an online reminder). When you receive notice of a new statement being available, record the reminder with correct amount as of the next due date.