Ally Bank and Ally Invest

MagicPinball

I have an Ally Bank account along with an Ally CD. These have been correctly added a while ago and has been downloading transactions correctly. I added an Ally Invest account and now my 2 previous Ally accounts do not download transactions. Looking at the account list, those 2 accounts are mow listed as Securities. and the transaction downloads are not available.

[Deleted User]

@MagicPinball open your Account List (Ctrl-A) -

• how many Ally bank and investment accounts show in the list?
• For each of your Ally accounts, what does it show for
  • Transaction Download?
  • Last Download?
  • Financial Institution?

Also, your last sentence is not clear -

Looking at the account list, those 2 accounts are mow listed as Securities. and the transaction downloads are not available.

Is it possible to provide further details or a screen print of what you are seeing?

MagicPinball

The Ally Bank and Ally CD have been downloading transactions fine. Today when I added Ally Invest, it was added to my list, but notice the "Transaction Download", "Last Download", and "Financial Institution" for Ally CD and Ally Bank.

[Deleted User]

@MagicPinball thank you for this information. Here are some steps to fix the connection for your Ally bank and CD accounts. The Ally Investment account is correct and will not be changed.

1. Make a backup of your data file.
2. For your bank and CD accounts, in Account Details, go to the Online Services tab, and deactivate each account.
3. Then go to the General tab and blank out Financial Institution Name and Account Number.
4. Click on Tools → Add Account. Type in "allybank" in the search box. Make sure AllyBank is selected and then click "Next".
5. Click "Continue" until you get to the screen to enter your User Name and Password and then click "Connect".
6. When you get to the screen that lists your Ally bank accounts, for each account select "Link to existing". If your Ally Investment account is also listed select "Do not update" for that account.

MagicPinball

For step 2, no deactivate.

For step 3, cannot clear Financial Institution.

For remaining steps:

This appeared to work for the 2 Ally accounts. But the Ally Invest does not show any positions. I tried the gear dropdown and selected Download poistions; nothing. At this point, I am willing to add 1 investment I made at Ally Invest along with the cash (which I do not see also.) The display for Ally Invest shows 4 large boxes. My other accounts, including investment accounts, shows a register. So I can't add anything manually.

[Deleted User]

@MagicPinball it looks like your accounts were already deactivated but it's great that the bank and the CD accounts are now working. There are several things to check for the Ally investment account.

There are two different methods available for investment tracking in Quicken. What you are seeing in the Ally Invest account is the Simple Investment Tracking method. We need to determine if you can switch to Complete Tracking for your investment account.

For your Ally investment account go to the General tab in Account Details. You should see a selection box like this one -

If they are not grayed out then select "Complete".

If the the radio buttons are grayed out, that means that Ally Bank only allows Simple Tracking for investment accounts when using Express Web Connect+ (EWC+).

Please report back which situation you see. Then we will go onto the next steps to get your investment account working.

MagicPinball

Both radio buttons are grayed.

The 'Help' link states:
"If Complete Investing is essential for you with this account, we recommend that you use the 'Online Services' tab in Edit Account to deactivate downloads; you can then change the tracking method to Complete and manually enter transactions."

Is this what you recommend?

[Deleted User]

@MagicPinball I think which one is best is up to you and how you intend to use the investment account. There are pros and cons to either method, depending on the user and the type of investment account.

Here is a summary of both methods (from Copilot) -

*************************************************************************************************************

In Quicken, Complete and Simple Investment Tracking are two distinct modes for managing your investment accounts, each with its own trade-offs depending on how detailed you want your tracking to be.

Complete Investment Tracking

This is the full-featured mode and ideal for users like you who want granular control and visibility.

• Tracks individual transactions: Buys, sells, dividends, reinvestments, etc.
• Supports cost basis tracking: Including FIFO, LIFO, and specific lot identification.
• Enables tax reporting: Useful for capital gains and income tracking.
• Detailed performance analysis: You can run reports and charts based on historical data.
• Manual review of downloaded transactions: You accept or edit each one.

Best for: Active investors, tax planning, and those who want full transparency.

Simple Investment Tracking

This mode is positions-only, designed for users who prefer a lightweight approach.

• No individual transactions: Only updates current holdings and cash balances.
• Limited cost basis info: Typically uses average cost method.
• No tax reports or planner integration: Securities data is excluded.
• Faster setup and fewer details: Good for retirement accounts or passive tracking.
• Cash transactions may lack context: Harder to trace origins or destinations.

Best for: Passive investors, 401(k)s, or users who don’t need detailed analysis.

**************************************************************************************************************

If you choose to deactivate the EWC+ connection and go with Complete Investment Tracking, it wouldn't be completely manual. You can use Web Connect (WC) to download transactions from your online account with Ally Bank. To get that connection established all you need to do is go to your online account with Ally Bank and go to the section that has transaction history. Usually there is a button to click to download to Quicken. The first time you do it, you will be asked to connect to the account on Quicken. Just choose the Ally Investment account.

If you decide to go that route, and need help with WC, I can help with that.

MagicPinball

I am not getting any transactions from Ally Invest. I tried "Reset Account" and still nothing.

The other Ally accounts are fine.

Then I tried clicking "Deacivate" in Online Services. I was allowed to change the tracking metthod to "Complete" in the General tab. I then went back to Activate dowloading for that account. It went back to Simple. Suggestions?

MagicPinball

After googleing, I think now I understand your lat set of comments.

I will be trying this. It is a shame I can't get transactions automatically. Only by QFX or manual.

[Deleted User]

@MagicPinball it seems like financial institutions have different variations on what they allow for investment accounts. What I have seen is if the financial institution uses EWC+ like Ally Bank, they only allow Simple Investment Tracking for automatic download. I am not sure why.

Let me know if you need any help with setting up Web Connect for your investment account.

MagicPinball

Got it. Thank you for your time.

FlyerFran

Been trying for over 2 months to reconnect to Ally without any success. Keep getting CC-503 error. I see by the above comments that I am not alone in having trouble with Ally and have tried all of the suggestions shown above without success.

FlyerFran

Still not connecting to Ally Bank. Same error. Help, please!

Quicken Kristina

Hello @FlyerFran,

Thank you for letting us know you're encountering this issue. If you haven't already done so, I recommend that you start troubleshooting by making a backup of your Quicken file and following these steps from our article on CC-503 errors:

Step One: Verify your bank login information

1. Type your password/PIN into a text application, such as Notepad, WordPad, or other text/word application. 
   • Note: This is a way of confirming you don't have typographical errors in this field.  
2. Highlight the "confirmed" password and then copy it (Ctrl + C) and paste it (Ctrl + V) into the appropriate fields in Quicken.

Step Two: Verify your bank login at the bank's website

1. Go to your bank's website and confirm that you're able to log in with the expected username and password.
2. Once you are logged in, review your account at the website for notifications (such as pending messages in a mailbox or message center) to confirm if further action is required to grant Quicken access. 
   • Some banks will require a separate login, password, or both to access accounts on third-party software. Also note, you may need to go to your settings at the website to access these prompts for new credentials. 

New passwords: If you are required to make a new password, be aware that some special characters may cause errors in Quicken. These special characters are the ampersand (&), left carat (<), right carat (>), backslash (\), and forward slash (/). Additionally, while Quicken does not have a character limit, your bank may have one. 

If the issue persists

Try Deactivating and Reactivating the affected accounts:

1. Choose Tools > Account List.
2. Click the Edit button next to the account you want to change the login ID for.
3. In the Account Details window, click the Online Services tab.
4. Click Deactivate, and then click Yes to deactivate online services.
5. Click Yes again, if necessary, to confirm your choice.
6. Repeat these steps to deactivate all accounts at this same bank.
7. Return to the Online Services tab and click Set up Now for each account you've deactivated.
8. Enter the correct login ID and follow the on-screen prompts to activate your account.

Please let me know how it goes!