Community Discussion: why is Quicken stating that Schwab does not allow "*" or special characters for the Quicken vault?

why is Quicken stating that Schwab does not allow "*" or special characters for the Quicken vault?

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The original post does not specify what Quicken release is involved (though that should not be material since it is virtually impossible that it is the Quicken software that is responsible for the user's problem).

At the time the discussion was begun, the two most current releases of Quicken R29.16 and R29.20. Neither release (nor R26.17) prevented a user from entering a password with an asterisk for Schwab - I tested in all three.

[I have since tested with R29.22 - no problem there either.]

Despite the fact that an asterisk is NOT a punctuation character, a recent post in the above discussion declared unequivocally that Quicken does not allow punctuation in passwords. Nonsense.

First, as noted above, Quicken is applying the password rules supplied by the financial institution.

Secondly, I have tested using both an asterisk and an exclamation point (which IS a punctuation character) in my Schwab password, and both characters are definitely allowed.

[The original poster did not specify which account type was involved, though that is also extremely unlikely to be involved ... unless the account type required using a different financial institution name (such as Fidelity Investments and Fidelity Netbenefits). My tests were done for investment accounts with the financial institution "Charles Schwab & Co., Inc."]

Schwab offers Direct Connect downloads for investment and bank accounts - generally speaking, users should be utilizing Direct Connect for downloading whenever possible.

Quicken plays no direct role in determining which characters are allowed in passwords for Direct Connect accounts: the Quicken requirements for Direct Connect passwords are set by the financial institution and transmitted to Quicken. The rules themselves are NOT hard-coded in the Quicken software.

If Quicken is applying the wrong password rules for a Direct Connect account, it is because the financial institution sent the wrong password rules to Quicken (or something interfered with Quicken receiving the correct password rules).

[Quicken does overrule financial institution rules for certain characters when the account uses Express Web Connect to download. But Quicken does not prevent an asterisk in passwords for For Express Web Connect accounts. The characters Quicken does prevent for Express Connect passwords are: &, <, >, \, or /]
Reply to
John Pollard
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Something else to check is the length of the p/w allowed on the web site and what Q is supplying

Reply to
Zaidy036

Not sure what you're driving at; so my comments are what I think might apply.

There are two sources of the rules for financial institution passwords stored in the Quicken Password Vault: the OFX specs and the individual financial institutions.

[The rule for allowing special characters (the subject of this discussion) is separate from the rules for the length of the password. And the treatment of special characters is slightly more limited for Express Connect downloads than for Direct Connect downloads.]

There definitely are limits on the length of passwords.

The OFX specs do not permit any password longer than 32 characters.

But I believe there are some other considerations (for which I don't have the details) that may limit the password for downloading to 20 characters.

As long as the password length does not exceed the limits above, Quicken applies the length limits set by each financial institution (and there is a minimum length and maximum length). Those rules can be found in the Quicken OFXlog.

Reply to
John Pollard

I had a problem where the site had a new max password length that was a reduction from previous and my Q p/w vault had used a valid former longer p/w that was not accepted after the change. Login refusal caused me to call bank where they told me of change.

Reply to
Zaidy036

Ok, now I understand.

Quicken only edits the financial institution password when you use the Tools > Password Vault > Add or Edit Passwords dialog. Once a password has been entered in the Vault; it will only be checked (edited) by the financial institution ... when you do a One Step Update or an Update Now.

The most current financial institution password criteria are not available to Quicken until after an OSU (or Update Now) has begun and the financial institution has responded to Quicken's request to download.

Reply to
John Pollard

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