Wachovia charging for Q DirectConnect

Just got this notification from Wachovia

Effective September 1, 2010, after your initial enrollment free trial period ends, there will be a $5.95 charge per statement cycle to be enrolled in Online Banking with BillPay through Quicken(R), QuickBooks(R), or Microsoft(R) Money. Direct Connect allows you to access account information, pay bills, transfer money, and send secure messages with Wachovia Online Services directly through your financial management software. You can also update information for multiple accounts directly into your software, without downloading files to your computer.

Time to switch banks.

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

Reply to
Andrew

You already did. Wachovia is now Wells Fargo.

Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

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?

Reply to
Porter Smith

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.

Reply to
Route101

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

Reply to
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.

Reply to
Route101

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.

Reply to
Tim Conway

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.

Reply to
totfit

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.

Reply to
Porter Smith

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

Reply to
Arnie Goetchius

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.

Reply to
nobody

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?

Reply to
nobody

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.

Reply to
Tim Conway

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.

Reply to
Tim Conway

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.
Reply to
nobody

I think you're right.

Reply to
Tim Conway

"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.

Reply to
Porter Smith

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.

Reply to
John Pollard

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