PNC Download Missing Transactions

For PNC bank personal checking accounts, you should be using Direct Connect connection method and only DC. On the Account list page you should see an option to upgrade connection if you are using EWC+. DC is the most reliable connection method and works reliably with PNC.

PNC has multiple financial institutions in Quicken for downloading transactions. Selecting the right one(s) is key to getting and maintaining a good and reliablity download capability. You can see which one(s) you are set up with in Account List and on the Online Services tab of Account Details.:

PNC Bank - Web Connect: This is the one that pops up to the top when typing in "PNC" in the Add Account search field. This is very unfortunate because while EWC+ connections can be set up with this it has proven to be very unreliable and problematic. This truly is for Web Connection connections….where one manually downloads and installs a QFX (also referred to as "Quicken" or "Web Connect") file from the online account. It works well with WC downloads.

PNC Bank - Direct Connect: This is the preferred and by far the most reliable download connection method. It also has the really nice free benefit of DC Bank Bill Pay where one can set up payments to billers and individuals as well as transfers between accounts in Quicken and then during OSU Quicken will send the command directly to PNC. (This is not to be confused with Quicken's Check Pay and Quick Pay bill payment service.) There is no monthly fee for consumer accounts. I think there is a $2-$3 monthly fee for business accounts.

Those who wish to set up with this connection must, if they have not already done so, contact PNC and let them know they wish to download into Quicken via Direct Connect. PNC will then mail out unique login information that will need to be used with this connection setup. It's a little bit of a hassle but it is well worth making the effort.

PNC - Virtual Wallet: This is the EWC+ connection financial institution that is designed to be used with consumer checking and savings accounts. It should be used instead of PNC Bank - Web Connect. I run this in a test file and it is somewhat problematic with occasional transactions not downloading for weeks or a month or not at all. Most transactions do download correctly. The issues are more pronounced with Pending Transactions when they are enabled to be shown in the register. Pending Transactions generally works OK when they are not enabled to be shown in the register.

PNC Card Services Online: This is the EWC+ connection financial institution that needs to be used with credit cards.

These are the PNC financial institutions that most people want/need. There are others for Investments, Loans/Mortgages and Businesses. Type in "PNC" in the Add Account search field to see them all.

You sure can. After you get your unique login info from PNC:

1. If you have not already done so, enter and save the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount into the Memo field. (This is not necessary for the process but it is a proactive step that can be very helpful if/when the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount gets changed when the connection method change takes place. This happens only sometimes but it's good to be prepared just in case.) Repeat this process for each PNC spending account. (In fact, it would be a good idea to do that for all of your spending accounts regardless of who the financial institution is.)
2. Back up your data file.
3. Account List > select "Edit" for one of your PNC accounts > Online Services tab > Deactivate. Repeat for each of your other PNC accounts (checking and savings accounts only) that you will be setting up with DC.
4. Add Account > type in "PNC Bank - Direct Connect" in the search field > Next > Continue > enter the unique login information > check the box for "Save to Password Vault" > Connect > when prompted, for each account that has been downloaded be sure to select "Link to…" and then select the appropriate account that is already in Quicken from the drop-down > Next. The accounts should now be set up for DC.
5. Check the the account balances. If they are correct, then you are done. If not, proceed to the next step.
6. Check the Opening Balances of each account you set up with DC. If the dollar amount does not match what you had previously entered into the Memo fields, correct the dollar amount to match what is shown in the Memo field.
7. If the accounts still are not in balance, scroll through the account registers looking for duplicate transactions. If you find any, delete one and retain the other. In most cases, if duplicate transactions are present they will show up within the last 90 days.
8. When all is in balance, backup your data file.

If you wish to take advantage of DC Bank Bill Pay with PNC:

1. You must first have Bill Pay set up for your online account. I think you can do this in your online account without having to talk with anyone at PNC but contact them for assistance if needed. (This is has nothing to do with Quicken at this point. It just allows you to pay bills and make payments to businesses and individuals when you are logged into your online account.)
2. Then in Quicken: Go to the Online Services tab of Account Details and enable Bank Bill Pay. (Do not click on Set up Bill Manager.)
3. When you want to make a bill payment: Tools > Online Payee List > select the appropriate PNC bank account > New > fill in the appropriate information for the payee and add it to the list > click on the payee and then click on Pay and fill in the payment information (enter the date you want the recipient to receive the payment, not the date you want the payment to be sent) > Send Now or Send Later > do OSU or Update Now and the payee information and payment information will be sent to PNC > PNC will confirm in the account register that the payment has been sent and will enter the check number.
4. For future payments to be made, you can set them up in the Online Center, the Online Payee List or enter it directly into the account register by entering "Send" into the Check # field.

You are welcome and thanks for this update. Hopefully others will find it to be helpful.

I was not aware that PNC now allows us to enroll for DC in our online account. That's a nice improvement. The last time I looked into it was about 2 yrs ago and at that time it was still required to talk to someone at PNC.

@jbondi - I've been a PNC customer for the last 3 years and I was told by other PNC customers from the very start that the PNC Bank - Web Connect connection set up was initially intended for use only with the Web Connect download method (i.e., manually downloading and importing transactions in a QFX….sometimes also called the "Quicken" or "Web Connect"…file format).

Note that Web Connect and Express Web Connect are not the same thing. WC is manual downloading. EWC (and EWC+) is downloading from within Quicken during OSU or Update Now. (I felt the need to mention this because there are some people who do not understand this).

Those who have tried using PNC Bank - Web Connect for OSU downloading will often (not always) get inconsistent and unreliable download results. Ever since PNC transitioned from Express Web Connect to Express Web Connect+ this connection setup has been the default connect setup in Add Account and Web Connect, not Express Web Connect+ is the default for it. IMO, this is leading to many of the posts being made in Community regarding PNC connection issues. And, in IMO, PNC Bank - Web Connect should only be used for the actual Web Connect download method, not for Express Web Connect/Express Web Connect+ downloads.

No one is saying that Direct Connect (PNC Bank - Direct Connect) must be used. But it is also well established that it is by far the most reliable method….and it supports totally free Bank Bill Pay (not to be confused with Quicken's Bill Manager Quick Pay and Check Pay services). There have been very few problems with this connection set up.

For those who do not wish to set up a DC connection for their personal checking and savings accounts they should probably be using the PNC - Virtual Wallet connection set up in Add Account. This will establish an EWC+ connection but sometimes (not a lot but enough to be a nuisance) a few transactions do not download. Sometimes they will download days or weeks later and sometimes they never download in which case the missing transactions will need to be manually entered. This has been an on/off issue with this connection set up ever since PNC transitioned from Express Web Connect to Express Web Connect+.

Important: For those with PNC credit cards, the PNC Card Services Online connection setup must be used.

It appears that for you the PNC Bank - Direct Connect FI defaulted to EWC+ during your Add Account setup. That should not be happening and I thought that this issue was fixed earlier this year. FYI, I just used this FI in Add Account in a test file and it correctly defaulted to DC, not EWC+, so I do not know why you got set up with EWC+. (You can always tell that Quicken is trying to set you up with EWC+ instead of any other connection method when during the setup process you are taken to your online account in your browser and you need to log in and authorize the FI to download into Quicken. That will never happen with any other connection method. With DC and with EWC, you will instead simply enter your login information in a popup inside Quicken with there being no push to the online account website.)

Personally, IMO, EWC+ should not even be an option with this FI so this could no longer be an issue for anyone. PNC has several other FIs that can be used for EWC+ connections so why complicate this DC FI by including EWC+ there, too?

If this EWC+ connection is working well for you and you do not need nor want the DC Bank Bill Pay feature, then you can simply continue to use EWC+ without making any change to the connection.

If, however, you run into issues with the EWC+ connection and/or if you want the free DC Bank Bill Pay feature, then you might want to consider changing the connection to DC.:

1…As mentioned earlier, you must have a PNC-provided PIN in order to set up DC. So, if you do not have that, then contact PNC to get that PIN. (Someone posted above that the PIN can now be obtained via the online PNC account but I cannot find the link they refer to. Maybe it is because I already have a DC PIN but you can try that if you wish. If that does not work for you, then you will need to call PNC to request the DC PIN.)

2…After you get the PIN:

• If you have not already done so, enter & save the Opening Balance transaction dollar amount into the Memo field of that transaction. (If you have more than one PNC Bank account, do this for each account. In fact, it would be good to do for every Spending account that you have.)
• Backup your data file.
• Deactivate your PNC Bank account. (If you have more than one, deactivate all of them.)
• Add Account > type in PNC Bank - Direct Connect in the search field > Advanced Options > Continue > select Direct Connect > Next > enter your SSN and the PNC-provided PIN > check the box for Save to password vault > Connect.
• When prompted, make sure to LINK the downloaded data to your PNC accounts already in Quicken.
• If the accounts are not in balance, check the Opening Balance transactions dollar amounts. Make sure they match what you previously entered into the Memo field.
• If the accounts still are not in balance, scroll back in the account register looking for duplicate transactions. If you find any, keep the original and delete the other. Generally, if there are any duplicates, they will occur within the last 90 days.

3…If you want to take advantage of DC Bank Bill Pay: Make sure to enable it on the Online Services tab of Account Details in the box for Online Bill Payment. DO NOT set up Quicken Bill Manager. QBM is Quicken's premium add-on bill payment service which is different from the free Bank Bill Pay.

Let me know if you decide to change your connection to DC and how well this process worked for you.