Citibank Discontinuing Direct Connect

According to a very quick response in the official Quicken forum, Express Web Connect doesn't do checks.

So do I give up Quicken and use Citibank's "Financial Tools" or do I change banks and use a bank that allows me to use Quicken to write checks? Suggestions for alternate banks requested.

Ulysses wrote in news:WdudnYKvTb-BzDDInZ2dnUU7- snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

I use Wells Fargo. Plays nicely with Quicken. It's free for me, but I think that's because I was grandfathered in. My accounts were origianly with First Union then Wachovia and now Wells Fargo.

Interesting. I have a Citi credit card and haven't received any notification. That said, I never used Quicken to pay bills - just download transactions.

Same here. Wachovia services were excellent. The only reason I stay with Wells Fargo is the free Quicken Bill Pay.

I'd change banks immediately and make SURE you tell Citibank why! Talk to the branch manager and go up the ladder from there.

BofA has played nice with Quicken for me...

I would add....

... and make sure you tell the NEW bank why you are moving to them.

Same here. However, I use WF's Bill Pay and Money Transfer service instead of Quicken Bill Pay. I do that because occasionally Quicken Bill Pay would fail to process the transaction. With WF bill pay, I have never had a problem.

Thanks for all the thoughts.

I took a quick look at Wells Fargo and I'm not sure but it seems that for new checking accounts, there are either monthly fees or various "relationship" requirements, like keep $XX in a linked account or have a home mortgage with WF.

In fact, I think that the only reason that my Citibank checking account and heretofore free bill pay were free was because of a previous relationship between Citi and my employer.

As for BofA, everybody's experience is different, but I do not like doing business with BofA.

Ulysses wrote in news:Yf-dnR7wevtFtC3InZ2dnUU7- snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

I work for BoA and don't like doing business with them either. That's why I bank with WellsFargo.

If they operate in your area look at Capital One. I don't have a branch near by and use grandfathered Wells Fargo but I do have a Capital One account as well.

Capital One is, IMHO, the new Wachovia.

To clarify, Citicards still has direct connect... I have received no correspondence from Citibank regarding my credit card, and it is still working with Direct Connect.

I just got a letter from Citibank saying that it will discontinue Quicken Direct Connect as of Oct 2, 2015. The letter says that this will eliminate "Quicken bill payment functionality" and the "ability to make money transfers from your Citibank account through Quicken."

Although I have a few automatic transfers configured, mostly I "write" specific electronic checks to pay my bills. Citibank says that my alternatives are to use its own bill pay service or to enroll in Quicken's fee-based Bill Pay service. Citibank also claims that "automatic downloads" to Quicken will stop but that Quicken Express Web Connect can still be used to download transactions.

So ... if I change the online services for my Citibank account in Quicken from "Direct Connect" to "Express Web Connect," will I still be able to write electronic checks? Or does "eliminate the ability to make money transfers" mean no more check writing?

And if I can't write checks through Quicken using Citibank, which other banks still offer free Quicken check writing?

I use, and am happy with, Bank America.

I have QuickBooks and use Chase, which supports DirectConnect. Have been us ing them since around 1990 before and after several mergers. There is a min imum balance requirement and allows linked accounts. But the service is gre at.

Once downside to be aware of when using QB, encryption is hard-coded in eac h individual package purchased. As part of the new banking rules, QB users are forced to upgrade every 3 years or you will not be able to do any onli ne transactions (credit card or banking).

I thought this applied to Quicken too, but may be wrong.