Community Discussion: USAA Two Factor Authentication Issue: Use member ID and Pin rather than USER ID and Password

" ... unable to set up USAA because USAA allows only 2 factor authentication login and the Quicken Bill Manager is unable to deal with the resultant variable password."

Not so: Multi-factor authenticati " ... my suggestion for biller setup would be for Quicken to replace the USER ID and Password requirement with the USAA Member Number and PIN. This strategy has worked flawlessly for years when setting up a USAA account for Direct Connect."

I doubt that is possible.

The user is correct that the logon credentials for setting up Direct Connect with USAA are Member Number/Pin; but Online Billers and the new Quicken Bill Manager only work with Express Web Connect. I doubt that the company that handles Online Billers and Bill Manager will be allowed Direct Connect to USAA for those purposes.

[An Express Web Connect logon attempt from within Quicken CAN handle random variable responses required by multi-factor authentication (Navy Federal Credit Union being one example), but I believe that process is dependent on the logon attempt being initiated by Quicken. However since it can be done by Quicken, it may be possible that the company handling Bill Manager can do the same. It's even conceivable that Quicken and the company handling Bill Manager are already working on this.]

Until/unless the company handling Bill Manager is able to handle MFA using Express Web Connect:

If a user insists on using multi-factor authentication, I think he/she will have to employ a different billpay approach ... and there are other approaches.

1.) There are some 500 financial institutions that will accept Online Billpay instructions from Quicken. "Bill Manager" is neither necessary, nor beneficial, for pay bills paid that way.

2.) For payments that are the same each time, the user should be able to schedule a recurring payment at the web site where their payment account is held (I believe virtually all banks/credit unions offer free billpay at their web sites). Then create a reminder (or use the reminder Quicken creates when the payment is for a loan) to enter (even better, auto-enter) the appropriate transaction in Quicken.

3.) Many billers, such as some lenders, insurers and utilities for example, offer their customers the ability to have the biller automatically debit a user's payment account (such as a checking account). I have some 14 bills being paid this way.

Using automatic debit not only precludes the need for Bill Manager, it also precludes the need for Online Billpay (naturally, only for those bills paid by automatic debit). This is especially useful for bills whose amount varies from payment to payment. [Even when employing this approach, you can still use Online Billers in Quicken to notify you of the amount of the next bill.]

For, what I believe is an example of a user trying too hard to continue using an approach that was always more cumbersome than necessary, and has now gotten even more cumbersome, see the following Community discussion:

"How does using Bill Manager change the way I pay mortgages?"

Found at:

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Using one of the three approaches I noted above, would make the loan payment process much easier. In fact, if the user uses the loan payment reminder created by the Quicken loan setup process, and makes that reminder "auto-enter"; the only thing the user would need to do would be to make sure that Quicken matches the downloaded payment transaction to the Quicken loan payment transaction (if not, the user can do a "manual match").

Reply to
John Pollard
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Exactly. PAD (preauthorized debiting) is so much simpler. Why would anyone still insist on buggering around with all those arcane Quicken methods, e.g. Bill Manager?

Reply to
Sharx335

Not every payee can automatically debit your account.

And other than the new Bill Manager, I'm not sure what other "arcane Quicken methods" you're referring to. Using Online Billpay from Quicken, while not available with every financial institution, is a very simple straightforward process.

For those whose financial institution does not accept billpay instructions from Quicken (or whose financial institution charges a fee for billpay via Quicken that some users are unwilling to pay), I believe the new Bill Manager feature, Check Pay, when fully developed, will be very handy for paying those who can not automatically debit your account.

Reply to
John Pollard

I've been using Quicken since 1994. Starting before then I migrated almost all my regular "billers" to PAD--most to autodebiting a bank account and the remainder to autodebiting a credit card. That way, the onus was on THEM to activate the transaction--I'm never on the hook for a delayed transaction, for example. The very few accounts that don't autodebit, e.g. annual car insurance/annual house insurance, I go online to the insurance company's web site and pay by credit card. Easy Peasy.

I still receive regular statements re these accounts and review them thoroughly, never assuming that mistakes will never happen.

Reply to
Sharx335

As I indicated earlier, I too use (and like) having my payment account automatically debited ... when it is possible. But it is not always possible.

And in those situations where auto-debit is not possible, I can often setup Online Billpay where I create payment instructions in Quicken, then send those instructions to my billpayer (via One Step Update) and have the bill paid by them. Very easy.

But there are situations where auto-debit is not possible and I am unable to send online billpay instructions from Quicken.

In those cases, I could, as you note, logon to my billpayer's web site and initiate a payment from there; and that's what I have been doing, up until now. It works, but it is nowhere near as easy as being able to send the payment instruction from Quicken to the billpayer.

With the new Quicken Bill Manager, I can use the "Check Pay" feature, which allows me to create a "check" type transaction in Quicken, and send an instruction to the Bill Manager company to write that check on the real-world account I designate, making the check payable to anyone in the U.S.

For me, that process is easier than having to logon to my billpayer's web site and create a billpay instruction there. And with that approach, I already, automatically, have the transaction in Quicken; don't have to add it manually, or wait for the payment to clear the bank, to see the transaction in Quicken.

I have already tested the Check Pay process and it works.

[It remains to be seen whether the "Check Pay" (and "Quick Pay") features of Bill Manager will be as simple and straightforward as they appear in the instructions. Some additional capabilities will need to be added (being able to create a Check Pay instruction for a date more then 45 days in the future, for example). And I think the user portion of the process can be made simpler to understand and simpler to implement. But the potential is there - Bill Manager is a work in progress.]
Reply to
John Pollard

John...bottom line...I just don't trust Quicken to not eventually screw-up a payment.  Both my credit score and my wife's is in the 800s and I don't want to jeopardize that. Trust issues.

Reply to
Sharx335

You have to do what makes you feel comfortable.

My credit score is also in the 800's, but do not have any problems with the Quicken features I use (I don't use any of the Planning features, for example, because I know those features have had problems ... and they are problems that users often do not notice until it's too late).

I have had a few problems with auto-debiting, and even with online billpay from my bank (BofA); so there is no magically 100% reliable approach. [None of those problems caused me to stop using those capabilities.]

The best bet in my book is not to assume that any process is perfect, plan to double-check on virtually everything.

Reply to
John Pollard

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