Why is Quicken accessing my Bank Accounts at 3 am without my permission?

Question

I have been a Quicken Classic user since 1997. I never use the mobile and web features. It is always turned off.  All my data resides on my private device. However, I did decide to set up the automatic download feature for transactions at my bank. I am now managing my elderly parent's finances, and it is becoming too much to keep up with all of the manual data entry for transactions. Again, my software is Quicken Classic, and it is on my device, and sync is turned OFF for mobile and web access. I set up the "online services" for a few of my bank and credit card accounts to see how I like it. But now, I get a text in the middle of the night saying someone has accessed my bank account every single day. I called the bank, and they said it is happening at 3 am. My laptop is asleep, and my Quicken software is closed. HOW and why is this happening? If the Quicken software/company can access my accounts without me directing it to in the moment, and they can do it when my software is closed (not asleep - CLOSED), and my laptop is also asleep, is the account data really safe? I assumed the software would not access it until I clicked on an account's drop-down menu and selected "update now".  I do not want this type of unfettered access to my bank accounts. After almost thirty years, I have found something I think is a vital fix. Is there a setting/preference I am missing that will turn off unrequested logins? Also, another user complained of the same issue in 2024, and no one responded or assisted. I sure would like some suggestions here other than deactivating the online service, which is what I will do if there isn't a way to stop this. Quicken is a well-established company that I have used for years, but shoot, this makes me nervous.

NotACPA · Answer

@Stahtah without knowing WHICH financial institutions are involved and what types of account at them, it's really not possible to answer your questions.

SO, for starters, when you do TOOLS, Account List …  what shows in the "Transactions Download", "Last Download" and "Financial Institution" columns next to each of the pertinent accounts.

Stahtah · Answer

Thank you for the information. I thought this was something I could initiate when I wanted it updated. I am clarifying that there are only two options, Quicken goes out and retrieves daily OR I have to download a file and open it into Quicken. It seems my financial institutions do not offer anything other than Tab-delimited text files. This does not seem to be what you are suggesting I download. The crazy thing is that my investment accounts do not download transactions daily. They only update transactions when I tell them to from the account menu in the upper right corner of the account. So…either I have somehow set something up that doesn't exist or there is a way to do what I want to do and I am just not setting it up correctly. Hmmmm.

Quicken Carlos · Answer

Hi @Stahtah

We appreciate you taking the time to post in the Quicken Community.

I can understand why the 3 AM login is concerning, especially since Quicken Classic is closed and your laptop is asleep at that time.

The reason you're seeing this is that Express Web Connect accounts can be updated automatically even when Quicken is not open. With this connection method, Quicken's aggregation service connects to your financial institution's website on your behalf, typically during overnight hours, to retrieve your latest transactions and account information. This is why your bank can record a login around 3 AM even though nothing is running on your computer.

Our Support Article explains how these connections work and why they can occur independently of the Quicken application being open:

If you do not want automated access, Web Connect, if supported by your financial institution, is an option because you manually download and import the transactions.

I hope this helps!