Wachovia charging for Q DirectConnect

Or even better, time to switch *from* "banks" to a *credit union* !

You already did. Wachovia is now Wells Fargo.

Copied this from the Wachovia website:

• Personal customers: accessing Wachovia Online Services through Quicken Windows 2010*:
• With a Crown Classic or Command Asset Program account, there is NO CHARGE.
• With all other accounts the first three months are FREE, then .95 per month thereafter.

This has been Wachovias' practice for the several years I have done business with them. My accounts fall in the free online services category. Further, this practice is not unusual among the many potential FI's out there; i.e., fees are waived under conditions.

Does your recent email notification contradict the above info? I have not received any notification of pending changes - other than the eventual move to WF :

JM wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com:

I posted the message the sent me verbatem. However when I submitted feedback complaining about this I received a reply that said the fee only applies to folks who use Quicken and since I don't use Quicken, no fee will be charged.(??) That really confused me because I've been accessing my accounts via Quicken since they were First Union.

Maybe old First Union customers are grandfathered in.If not, there are two banks in my neighborhood (TD and PNC) that claim free access via Quicken.

Anyone have any experience with either one?

Wells Fargo charges $3/month for Quicken Online Banking, even with accounts qualifying for free bill pay, free interest bearing checking, etc. They said it's because that's what they are charged by Intuit.

Well, if I get a Quicken charge, I will be researching banks and credit unions. So far, I have not had any charges even though there have been a couple of messages about it. I will let them have one month of fees and then move.

On a related note, I have not been able to generate checks from Quicken through Wachovia for months. Wachovia sends me to Quicken support and QS sends me back to Wachovia. I only issue about 5 checks a year so I just log into their bill pay but it is pretty annoying and I certainly won't pay for it.

Happy accounting

Mr. Jan

I forgot to add that the $3 monthly fee allows 8 direct connect sessions per statement cycle. Transactions more than 8 are charged extra.

Although $36 a year may not seem like much, especially with the "free" (sic) features I get, now that interest rates are too low to offset the fee, I'm thinking of discontinuing my Direct Connect with Quicken (assuming I can turn it off by removing the online banking info. for those accounts *and* get WF to stop charging), and using Web Connect instead. I browse online to the WF site regularly to review account, handle varying free bill-pay items, and download check images to attach to Quicken transactions anyway.

I have Wachovia and Q2010 and use the web connect to avoid paying the fee. I find it almost as convenient as using direct connect from within Quicken. No problemo.

Bank of America charges $9.95. Time to dump them anyway. Closing a house next month and will close out BOA shortly after. We are going to do business from now on with a credit union.

totfit wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Wachovia is now telling me that since I am over age 50 I can convert to a "Crown Classic" account which does not incur this fee.

I have Wachovia (actually zwachovia from First Union) with Crown Classic and Heloc. Either one qualifies for free Quicken.

I have not received that letter from Wachovia and was assured that Wells Fargo would continue to provide all the benefits promised by Wachovia.

The problem here is that almost all banks charge for the service and some even have limits on use. Let us know if you find one that is free with a reasonable balance.

When I completed my change from Money to Quicken, which was just last week, I called Wachovia to get it to work and they mentioned nothing.

I am new to Quicken (from Money) and always used the online services, like bill pay. Is the web connect where you download a file from Wachovia and import it to Quicken? What do you do about online bill pay? Do you "accept" transactions the same way as before?

I download a file from wachovia.com and click "open" instead of "save" in the dialog window. They usually have you select an account or all accounts and then select the year of the Quicken you are using. I also have Quicken open and the account open too in the background. The transactions show up at the bottom just like on a direct connect update. The wachovia website (and other banks also) has a feature for bill payment from their website. It's really easy, just a minor additional step or two involved.

I think if you have the "no minimum balance" and free checking (like I do) they charge a monthly fee like $5.95 to update from within Quicken. I used to, but since they started charging the fee, I only update from their website. See my reply to your earlier question for details. good luck.

I think I'm still food on free Quicken quick connect and bill pay because I have a Crown Classic account ($1,000 min balance). From the Wachovia site:

Personal customers: accessing Wachovia Online Services through Quicken:

• With a "Crown" or "Command Asset Program" account, there is NO CHARGE. * With all other accounts the first three months are FREE, then .95 per month thereafter.

I think you're right.

"Tim Conway" wrote in news:i4v5ph$d5u$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

That's the point. I have about a dozen accounts that I download transactions into and an extra step or two for each would quickly add up. Now I just enter my PIN vault password, click Update Now and it's all automatic.

I suggest you find another financial institution.

You don't necessarily have to put *all* your money in a new fi ... just the money you want Quicken to track in detail.