I think I'm getting confused so before I go too far down the trail chasing what I THINK I'm about to learn, perhaps someone can confirm I'm on the right trail.
I recently moved money electronically among a few banks for the first time. That lead to a conversation with one about "on-line banking and bill paying"; it's free. I was surprised and said I'd investigate.
Well I've finished reading all they've printed to their website, including the terms and conditions. I'm a little concerned about their "sharing bill paying info with third parties" so I've asked for clarification. That may be a show stopper right there.
Anyway... I then switched to Quicken 2005HB to see what's needed. I've read about "downloading transactions to my account" and believe I understand. Along the way, however, I started reading about "Quicken Bill Pay" (QBP). That appears to be Intuits own service which will handle the actual payment for about ten bucks a month... verses "free" from my bank. Now I'm leery; there ain't no "free" lunch anywhere! I fear I'm about to discover I will still need QBP to have my bank handle the "free" payment. Their website
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tells me I can "pay bills directly via Quicken software" ... but it doesn't tell me how.
I'm trying to find out just what I need to do in Quicken to take advantage of this "free" banking service. Would appreciate someone taking a moment to comment and/or point me in the right direction for getting the details I'll need.
Your banks BillPay is a tarbaby. If you use it, you'll be able to categorize your expenses but you won't be able to include checks written on other banks or even your pocket cash. And you won't be able to switch away from that bank's service because it will be hard to copy the transactions into your new system. Although you can probably go through a comma-separated values file step, but that's painful.
John Gregory wrote:
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> tells me I can "pay bills directly via Quicken software" ... but it doesn't > tell me how.
Usually, when banks use the phrase "online bill paying," they mean you can pay a bill from their web site. That's undesirable, for a variety of reasons including that it rarely integrates well with Quicken.
However, that web page says you can use "online bill paying through Quicken," apparently at no cost. That's a good feature. Lots of bank charge extra for bill paying through Quicken, if they offer the service at all.
"Quicken Bill Pay" is a similar service offered by Intuit, for a fee. You don't want that if you can get free service through your bank.
The way it works is that you use the Online Center in Quicken, select your bank, select the Payments tab, and in effect write a check in Quicken. Then you go online and upload the check to the bank, perhaps as part of a One Step Update. The bank accepts your check request and transfers funds to the destination account, if the destination supports ACH transfers (and the bank knows which ones do), or cuts a check and mails it to the recipient.
I write almost all my checks this way. I write a check on paper only a couple of times a year.
Great! I also found an overview of "online account services" in Quicken Help so I'll bone up on the details. I'll make a copy of my file and start to play with the service as soon as they give me my password. I appreciate the help, Guy. And Stubby, you're probably right about the Tar Baby pitfall. Fortunately, I can electronically transfer funds from those other accounts when needed and write all checks through the online bank linked to Quicken. Would have to open another account, I suppose if I wanted to have a separate one for business. Anyway, I appreciate all the input.
I have been using free on line with my bank and with my broker for several years. The bank is Citizens of Nevada County. I enter the transaction at their website and then download it to Quicken by Web Connect. Simple. The broker is Morgan Stanley. I enter the transaction on their web site and Quicken automatically downloads the transaction.
Wachovia bank has offered free bill-pay through Quicken FOR YEARS. Before it was bought by Wachovia, my branch was a CoreStates, and then a FirstUnion. All offered bill-pay through Quicken (though at one time there was a charge of $3.99 per month if your balance went below a certain threshold, IIRC)
As posted in this thread by Guy, you simply write a check -- either in the Online Center OR directly into the register, using the SEND term in the check number column. If you have not set up the payee as on online payee, Quicken will prompt you.
You can even mix-and-match services. I use my bank's website to schedule fixed payments for loans, and Quicken to send variable payments like credit card and utilities.
There is no distinction between transactions initiated at the bank website, checks written by hand, atm transactions, and those sent via the online center. When cleared through the bank, all transactions download for matching or accepting as new transactions.
As for the free lunch, the OP is correct, it is not free. Banks, like other businesses, offer certain services to attract customers. Perhaps you will use a bank-associated credit card, or enter into a personal loan agreement with the ban, use the atm at a remote location, or order checks... all things banks can and do charge premiums on.
Your free lunch is more likely to be threatened by the Intuit bean counters who discovered that their biggest cash-cow was not in improved software, but in disabling services for existing copies of older software. This includes such wonderful innovations as forcing upgrades by 'sunsetting' older software (disabling payroll, merchant services and other options in QuickBooks, and OFX online transfers in Quicken) and, in addition, removing some capabilities altogether (like the ability to import QIF files from your bank for checking, savings, and credit card accounts). Read some of the FAQ's for OFX download, and maybe you can pinpoint why Intuit does this. Q: Why does Intuit charge financial institutions a fee to connect to Quicken? A: Intuit charges a fee to financial institutions to connect to Quicken via Open Financial Exchange (OFX) because Intuit products, like Quicken, are uniquely positioned to provide financial institutions with a better way to attract, retain and serve their customers by offering a more valuable service. This small fee enables Intuit to offset costs, offer connectivity to more financial institutions, and continue to develop better products and services using the faster, easier and more accurate OFX method.
Q: Does Intuit charge all financial institutions the same fee to connect Quicken? A: Intuit offers various pricing options for connectivity based on the size of institutions customer base. Smaller banks pay less than larger banks.
Q: Will my Financial Institution charge fees for OFX download? A: Financial Institutions determine what - if any - fees will be charged for download into Quicken via OFX. Contact your Financial Institution and ask them if they charge fees for download into Quicken. When you call, be sure to explain that you want to download into Quicken and would like to understand if there are any costs for doing so.
Q: Does Intuit require banks to charge their customers for connectivity? A: Absolutely not. Intuit does not mandate that financial institutions charge their customers for OFX connectivity with Quicken. In fact, many financial institutions offer this service free of charge to their customers.
Of course, the folks at Intuit were not quite so forthcoming in telling the customers who just this year were forced to upgrade from the 2003 product. We found out AFTER conversion. The choice is to take the newer product, with QIF disabled, or send for a refund, and keep your older product with INTUIT-disabled OFX.
Except that those capabilities (QIF file imports) were not removed ... despite what the faq's or others may say. QIF file imports were made slightly more difficult, but they are still operational.
Right now, wachovia is NOT offering quicken bill pay support to new accounts. No statements about what's coming. The do offer direct download. So I am still paying Quicken to write my checks.
Bleh. The Intuit site explains that QIF capabilities were left in place for use in technical service issues. It's still there because Intuit needs it. BUT it is disabled for all but cash accounts. Sure, you can import to a dummy account and move the transactions, but the categories are missing. And, there is even more possibility using the move that you will end up with duplicate transactions, regardless of the Intuit PR.
Sorry, but you *can* import directly into checking, savings, and investment accounts in Q2005 and Q2006. You just haven't been keeping up with this issue. (And QIF file importing was never "disabled" for asset, liability, receivables, payables, and one other that I've forgotten.)
The Intuit website directly refutes your statement. QIF importing for bank accounts, credit cards and brokerage accounts was an included option in Quicken for Windows PRIOR TO 2005. Beginning with 2005, Intuit has disabled the QIF import for all but cash accounts.
From the Intuit website
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"Beginning with Quicken 2005 for Windows, and for all future versions ofQuicken for Windows, QIF Data Import will no longer be available for mostaccounts." Follow the link for more information and you find"If you upgrade to Quicken 2006 for Windows you will no longer be able touse QIF Data Import for your checking account (as well as savings, creditcard, 401(k), and all other brokerage accounts)." If "you *can* import directly into checking, savings, and investment accounts in Q2005 and Q2006" using QIF, please, post back in the ng with the work-around.
I would appreciate it, and, given the number of posts regarding this issue I am sure others would as well.
I agree that what Intuit wrote does not agree with what I said. By not only have I proven that Q2006 can import directly to checking, savings, credit card, and investment accounts; I, and others, have posted this several times - here in this newsgroup and in the Quicken forums. (And Intuit themselves, first let on this was possible in a response in the Quicken forums).
There are several variations on the theme, but if you look under the hood, they are really all pretty much the same. Here is one of many posts indicating how it's done.
But as stated that is for OLD accounts. Those of us that opened a NEW account can not make payments as we have for years with other banks through Quicken. Maybe they will change their policy since I have complained long and hard about this. I did contact someone within Wachovia about this who was going to put me in touch with "tech support" who was going to walk me through 80 steps to see if I could get it to work. I didn't bother. Yes, the information all about using Quicken is on their site, but open a new account and try to pay a bill with Quicken. It won't work.
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