Can anyone recommend a DirectConnect bank for use w/Quicken 2004?

[Searcher]

I'd like to change from Wells Fargo(ne).

I'd like:

1. ATM access here in Portland / Beaverton, Oregon - with no fees.
2. Absolutely MUST have ***DirectConnect*** with NO fees.
3. Would love to have bill pay with no fees.
4. Interest is of little/no concern to me - as I won't have much in the
account.
5. Offer Visa which works with DirectConnect.
6. Be well established in online /net banking.
7. Not require downloading /qif/etc... - must be DirectConnect!
8. Not require that I upgrade from Quicken 2004 (I'm happy with it).

Thanks!

Searcher

 

[Searcher]

It should have a minimum opening balance of no more than $100. and
pref. $50. I also have Direct Deposit setup for monthly pay checks, if
that matters (some banks offer incentives to get DD's). Thanks for any
info on online banks!

 

[gklatv]

Try First Internet Bank (FirstIB.com)

2 concerns:
- although the opening amount is $100, you'll need $500 balance to
avoid $10 monthly fee
- sunset of Q2004

 

[Searcher]

When I spoke with Intuit, they told me Quicken 2004 supported
DIrectConnect, and indicated it was prior versions that they were
dropping support for. $10 monthly fee does not meet my criteria. I have
a monthly DD of over $770, and notice many banks offering no monthly
fees, etc... Just have not been able to ascertain which have
DirectConnect support (calling their phone reps is almost useless).

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

When I spoke with Intuit, they told me Quicken 2004 supported
DIrectConnect, and indicated it was prior versions that they were
dropping support for. $10 monthly fee does not meet my criteria. I have
a monthly DD of over $770, and notice many banks offering no monthly
fees, etc... Just have not been able to ascertain which have
DirectConnect support (calling their phone reps is almost useless).

I hope someone can give you an answer. I moved my account to Wachovia
for number 3 only to learn that as a new customer I can not use that
"feature"
From past messages it appears that more and more banks will not allow
you to direct pay except through their on line web site.
As someone else said you reason number 8 will disappear sooner or later.

 

[John Pollard]

When I spoke with Intuit, they told me Quicken 2004 supported
DIrectConnect, and indicated it was prior versions that they
were
dropping support for. $10 monthly fee does not meet my
criteria. I have
a monthly DD of over $770, and notice many banks offering no
monthly
fees, etc... Just have not been able to ascertain which have
DirectConnect support (calling their phone reps is almost
useless).

Q2004 will get sunsetted ... probably in April next year.

Many of the banks offering direct downloads for no fee require
other things, such as minimum balances or direct deposit, etc.

To see if a financial institution offers direct connect, look at
your Participating Financial Institutions List in Quicken.

 

[Searcher]

wow. I cant believe that nobody yet has been able to name a bank
offering direct connect with no fee. As I mentioned, I do have a
monthly Direct Depost which seems attractive to many banks. I'm hoping
that will qualify me somewhere.

 

[Arnie Goetchius]

I hope someone can give you an answer. I moved my account to Wachovia
for number 3 only to learn that as a new customer I can not use that
"feature"
From past messages it appears that more and more banks will not allow
you to direct pay except through their on line web site.
As someone else said you reason number 8 will disappear sooner or later.

I'm with Wachovia and am grandfathered so I can still use Quicken for
billpay. One of these days I fully expect them to revoke that privilege
so that I'll have to go on Wachovia's website and use their billpay. I
assume that's what you're doing. How do you like (or dislike) it?

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I'm with Wachovia and am grandfathered so I can still use Quicken for
billpay. One of these days I fully expect them to revoke that privilege
so that I'll have to go on Wachovia's website and use their billpay. I
assume that's what you're doing. How do you like (or dislike) it?

I refuse to use Wachovia's bill pay. If and when I find a bank that will
let me pay my bills the way I did for years I'll move the account again.
Granted I was paying for that service at my old bank and I moved to
Wachovia just for that free service. So, the bottom line for me is that
I would pay Wachovia to be able to use Quicken even though they got my
business under false pretense.
Every time I see their TV ad about how much they care about customers
and are number one in customer satisfaction I want to scream.
For now I have gone back to writing checks!

 

[Oilcan]

If you go to the Intuit Website and search, you will find your banks
meeting your criteria is pretty slim in the Northwest. There is
NetBank that meets your criteria, but you would be banking solely via
the internet. I don't know anything about the quality of their service
as I don't bank with them.

Goto the Intuit website and you can do an advanced search and see the
banks that ofter direct connect and from there go to the indivdual bank
sites and research.

 

[DP]

There is
NetBank that meets your criteria, but you would be banking solely via
the internet. I don't know anything about the quality of their service
as I don't bank with them.

I still have a CD non-roth IRA with them. But I don't have to do anything
with it except let it sit. It will even automatically renew itself in a
couple of years if I do nothing.

But there was a time when I had a couple of other accounts with them,
including checking.
At the time I was not happy with the service. As I recall (and memory may be
faulty) the transfers to/from non-Netbank accounts was pretty quirky. It's
like the transfers would disappear into a hole for a few days after you made
it. You know you initiated the transfer and at some point it would
eventually show up in the other account, but there was a period of several
days when you didn't know where the transfer was. It was like when the
Apollo crafts would go behind the moon and we'd lose radio contact with
them.
Then the transfer would show up as "posted" in your account but you still
couldn't access it. I forget what terminology they used to differentiate
between when the transfer was posted and when you could actually use the
money, but I found it real hard to navigate. I eventually closed everything
except for the IRA.

Then they upgraded their software and transfers completely disappeared! In
other words, I would effectuate a transfer and the site would show that I'd
started the process, but then the process would never be completed. It was
very weird. I think they finally fixed that.

Anyone else remember that with Netbank? This would have been maybe four or
five years ago.

 

[Searcher]

And on that note.....I'd like to consider 'First Internet Bank' (of
Indiana). I spoke with their telephone rep and she checked and came
back to tell me that Direct Connect using Qucken was FREE and their
min. opening balance is $25. I think I'm going to give them a try since
I couldn't get any other online bank suggestions (except NetBank with
it's neg. feedback here).

Anyone with expereince with First Internet Bank?

 

[gklatv]

Please, check FirstIB site for yourself (FirstIB.com)
$25 opening deposit is for their Free Checking account which does not
earn you an interest, doesn't allow ATM surcharge rebates and does not
give you a free BillPay.
You would want their Interest Checking account most likely, which comes
with BillPay included. Their BillPay is very good - I never had any
problems with it. But it's from their website, not from within Quicken.
Don't forget about $500 balance to avoid monthly service fee on this
account.

You can "pull" money from linked acounts in other banks - it's free and
very fast.
To "push" money out of FirstIB to other banks would cost $5.

They provide free electronic statements, or paper statements for
$3/month.
The statements do not separate deposits from debits or checks written,
just list all the transactions in one list sorted by dates - not the
best concept, but not that bad in reality.
Overall, FIrstIB is a very good bank. I am a happy customer.

 

[Don]

I refuse to use Wachovia's bill pay. If and when I find a bank that will
let me pay my bills the way I did for years I'll move the account again.
Granted I was paying for that service at my old bank and I moved to
Wachovia just for that free service. So, the bottom line for me is that
I would pay Wachovia to be able to use Quicken even though they got my
business under false pretense.
Every time I see their TV ad about how much they care about customers
and are number one in customer satisfaction I want to scream.
For now I have gone back to writing checks!

I manage my parents finances through Quicken. I moved their checking
and savings (a real pain) to Wachovia because I was promised that I
could pay bills through Quicken not just through their online bill
pay. Once we got everything moved over and set up I find that they no
longer allow customers to use quicken to pay bills. I was told to use
their website. Of course I raised holy hell and started going up
through the food chain until I got what I was promised. They got a
techie online with me and he set things up and now I pay all my
parents bills through quicken. The techie said I must have talked to
the right person because they simply don't do this anymore with new
customers. Bitching to a $7/hour Wachovia customer service rep who
doesn't know the difference between website bill pay and quicken bill
pay is a waste of time.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I manage my parents finances through Quicken. I moved their checking
and savings (a real pain) to Wachovia because I was promised that I
could pay bills through Quicken not just through their online bill
pay. Once we got everything moved over and set up I find that they no
longer allow customers to use quicken to pay bills. I was told to use
their website. Of course I raised holy hell and started going up
through the food chain until I got what I was promised. They got a
techie online with me and he set things up and now I pay all my
parents bills through quicken. The techie said I must have talked to
the right person because they simply don't do this anymore with new
customers. Bitching to a $7/hour Wachovia customer service rep who
doesn't know the difference between website bill pay and quicken bill
pay is a waste of time.

I got in touch with "a friend of a friend" who told me that she could
put me in touch with a tech who would walk me through the 80 steps it
would take to see IF I could pay bills through Quicken. I didn't bother
to call back to try. I know I should not have given up, but I did. I was
afraid that after the 80 steps I would be told the same thing. "We don't
offer that to new customers".