Bank charge for Quicken direct connect

Stubby wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Banks also pay people to work in their buildings. It's called the cost of doing business. Of course, any company is free to charge whatever they want for their services and products. Apart from favorable tax treatment (not to be discussed here), the companies/banks giving the best bang for their buck will do the best business.

Ergo, I keep an unconscionable amount of money in Citibank, just for the privilege of direct connect. Call me whatever you want, I call it convenience.

Does Citibank provide direct connect to Quicken for free? They wanted $3.95 from me in addition to requiring a $10K minimum total balance. Did you get a different deal?

Stubby wrote in news:ANOdnTBEN snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

See the other thread "Substitute for INGDIRECT, with direct connect".

I don't pay anything to Citibank. I have an "everything counts" account, which 'only' requires 10K combined balance, or 20K if combined with a brokerage account (IRA).

I hold my account in LI, NY, where I used to live before moving to NJ.

"Stubby" wrote

Read the thread titled "Online bill payment through my bank" and Han's comments and links regarding the Citibank Everything Counts account.

You might also look at BankOne. I think the PremierOne account I have does everything for free, although I don't take advantage of it. Look here:

"On Line bill Pay" is offered free by most banks. However, it is NOT Quicken BillPay and is NOT Quicken direct account access.

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 12:30:13p, Han wrote in news:Xns966C895E3891ikkezelf@130.81.64.196:

Fortunately my banks don't hold my cash hostage for the direct connect privlege, so their rates must hit the competitive threshold before I place the big bucks with them.

One of my banks tried to market their "big buck" accounts as having a lot of rewards, but it was actually setup as a minefield of penalties for their customers. I chose to downgrade my accounts there (but still have free billpay & direct connect with them!) and moved my big bucks to a non-minefield FI with a much higher rate.

I could have bypassed their minefield by just opening a CD, but their damn promotional rate expired the week before our last CD matured. I much prefer to buy CDs in the marketplace rather that at individual local banks; that would put me at the mercy of what one bank's rate is at maturity time... and I also get an FDIC coverage advantage plus lump sum cash automagically at maturity.

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 02:45:46p, Stubby wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Bank One's is quicken direct access and billpay (they are becoming Chase in the near future). The Premier One account is not required for free access to these quicken features. NationalCity bank also offers these free Quicken features.

"Stubby" wrote

Did you even read the links I sent you?

I've never purchased CDs, though my credit union offers pretty competitive rates. They pay considerably more interest on money market funds (and are federally insured), so I was keeping my emergency fund there. However, their rates don't come close enough to ING Direct or Emigrant to warrant keeping large sums there. I'm curious. What do you mean by purchasing CDs "in the marketplace?" I may be purchasing a CD or two in the not-too-distant future, so I'd like to know more.

Thanks and Regards,

Margaret

I read the first one. It talks about online bill pay. Searching the site for "Quicken" didn't find anything. If you got one wrong, I didn't see the point in reading a second.

Don't be so hard on yourself :) Citibank's rates are quite competitive. As a matter of fact, they have been heavily advertising (in the NY Times) their 'Step Up Account' which pays 3.15%, nearly as much as emigrantdirect pays.

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 03:34:19p, Margaret Wilson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com:

I mean buying thru a brokerage account (Schwab, Scottrade; Harrisdirect; or even a brokerage account connected to your bank (eg. Bank One). Some have what is available listed online for you to peruse at your leisure. If you buy CDs from different banks in your brokerage account you have FDIC coverage separately via each of those banks. Most have new primary offerings listed early each week along with secondary offerings (people selling theirs before maturity). The advantage, other than FDIC coverage, is you are able to shop for the deal that has a maturity and rate that seems best for you; and it sure beats driving around to local banks at maturity time and then looking around for another good deal.

Most of the primary offerings (brand new CDs) require you to invest a minimum of maybe 10K at some brokerages or possibly 20K, but can be just about any multiple of 1000 after that minimum.

Secondaries can be bought in just about any multiple of 1K face value (however the accounting is a little less straight forward with these).

FWIW, HarrisDirect lost favor with me as a brokerage account. I was almost ready to close our account there but decided for CD and other fixed income, online shopping is nicer there than elsewhere. I moved all of our other investments elsewhere. (They support Quicken direct connect (I believe direct billpay too -- but I already had that set up elsewhere).

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 03:51:37p, Stubby wrote in news:35idnWwTNchL-D7fRVn- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I told them they should mention and highlight their support for Quicken billpay and direct connect. They ignored me ;)

"Stubby" wrote

Perhaps you should read more before you post. I had to really hold back to keep from telling you that earlier after you asked a question that was just answered today in a different thread. A little research and courtesy never hurt anyone.

On the US Treasury's EFT/EDI site, they state that checks cost them $0.83 per payment and direct deposit costs them $0.08.

As as financial systems consultant, I've seen numbers in the $4-$5 range PER in-person transaction and pennies (to $0.10) per electronic transaction.

Based upon the above, I believe that banks should PAY US to use electronic channels (or, at least, not charge us to SAVE THEM MONEY).

If you're paying for Direct Connect, YOU'RE GETTING RIPPED OFF.

danbrown said

I've been sending EMAILs to these companies informing them that "Quicken Direct connect is a requirement" if they want my business. My measly business isn't going to sway anyone... but if we ALL did this it might influence a few. Emails are cheap and easy. YMMV

"danbrown" wrote in news:1118025248.272499.272200 @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

You're assuming that the price a vendor charges for a service should based on his cost.

If you save ten dollars worth of time per month, you have made a good deal, otherwise you have not. Pretty simple, isn't it?

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 11:16:51p, Z Man wrote in news:46Qoe.2904$ snipped-for-privacy@fe11.lga:

For you, too simple maybe.

That won't change my mind about liking my FREE access better than other people's paid access.