Quicken & USAA Bank

[djebens]

Received a most unwelcome call today; as of 7/31/04 USAA will no longer
support qkn. We live in S. Calif. so guess we'll start looking for a
bank close by.

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

Received a most unwelcome call today; as of 7/31/04 USAA will no longer
support qkn. We live in S. Calif. so guess we'll start looking for a
bank close by.

Are you sure not at all or just not the older versions of Quicken? Don't see
anything on their web page yet and haven't received any calls.

That would be a drag if they dropped it completely. It's nice to do the one
click download.

 

[Clark]

Quicken has been threatening to stop supporting the .QIF download option.
Is that what you are using?

As was mentioned, maybe the other option will still work.

Clark

 

[Tom Putnam]

I have just left a query to USAA on this subject and told them of the
question and that I would post the reply they sent me here so we can all get
the "straight poop" on this.

Tom

 

[djebens]

Quicken has been threatening to stop supporting the .QIF download option.
Is that what you are using?

As was mentioned, maybe the other option will still work.

Clark

NO, I do not use qif & have been doing direct online payments &
downloads since they became available from USAA. USAA is completing
abandoning qkn & recommending using qkn billpay or their web site. Of
course that eliminates downloads of cleared transactions which is not an
acceptable option. I was informed that to compensate qkn users there
would be a rebate of part of the fees paid for online billpay. I gather
they are also abandoning m$m. I intend to write a letter to USAA to
express my displeasure but don't expect any change of heart. The
name/address of the person to whom to write is:
Rick Molina, VP of Deposit Operations
USAA Federal Savings Bank
10750 McDermott Parkway
San Antonio, TX 78897

 

[Doug]

NO, I do not use qif & have been doing direct online payments &
downloads since they became available from USAA. USAA is completing
abandoning qkn & recommending using qkn billpay or their web site. Of
course that eliminates downloads of cleared transactions which is not an
acceptable option. I was informed that to compensate qkn users there
would be a rebate of part of the fees paid for online billpay. I gather
they are also abandoning m$m. I intend to write a letter to USAA to
express my displeasure but don't expect any change of heart. The
name/address of the person to whom to write is:
Rick Molina, VP of Deposit Operations
USAA Federal Savings Bank
10750 McDermott Parkway
San Antonio, TX 78897

If true, this is certainly highly disappointing. I will also be writing to
whomever I can. I can honestly say that the entire reason I moved my banking
to USAA was because of this capability. I hate the thought of changing all my
direct deposits, scheduled bill pay, etc., but I think I hate even worse the
thought of going back to manually entering all my transactions. Maybe if we
get every member we know to complain there is a chance to save the capability.

Doug

 

[Alan Wonsowski]

If true, this is certainly highly disappointing. I will also be writing to
whomever I can. I can honestly say that the entire reason I moved my banking
to USAA was because of this capability. I hate the thought of changing all my
direct deposits, scheduled bill pay, etc., but I think I hate even worse the
thought of going back to manually entering all my transactions. Maybe if we
get every member we know to complain there is a chance to save the capability.

Doug

I received a similar notification from Wachovia several months back.
The issue concerned support of Quicken 2001 which I was using at the
time. I upgraded to Q2004 and everything continues to work - even
better than it did before. Is it possible the notification was in
response to Quicken's lack of support in an older version?

Would it be possible for the originating poster to "quote" the
appropriate parts of the notification you received so we could see
this in the total context? Also, have any other USAA customers in this
newsgroup received similar notification? Perhaps they could shed
additional light on this problem.

USAA is a Premier financial institution. In my judgement, they are
not likely to abandon something they have encouraged their customers
to do particularly when the efficiencies improve their own bottom
line.

Alan

 

[djebens]

I received a similar notification from Wachovia several months back.
The issue concerned support of Quicken 2001 which I was using at the
time. I upgraded to Q2004 and everything continues to work - even
better than it did before. Is it possible the notification was in
response to Quicken's lack of support in an older version?

Would it be possible for the originating poster to "quote" the
appropriate parts of the notification you received so we could see
this in the total context? Also, have any other USAA customers in this
newsgroup received similar notification? Perhaps they could shed
additional light on this problem.

USAA is a Premier financial institution. In my judgement, they are
not likely to abandon something they have encouraged their customers
to do particularly when the efficiencies improve their own bottom
line.

Alan

No it does not have to do with support for older versions -- I am using
04P r5. The person who called me did not inquire as to version. The
reason given is that they have about 200,000 customers who utilize
on-line banking but only a small %age use m$m or qkn. BTW, the # to call
for more info is:
1 (800) 531-5779 -- this is on-line tech support.

 

[John Pollard]

No it does not have to do with support for older versions -- I
am using 04P r5. The person who called me did not inquire as to
version. The reason given is that they have about 200,000
customers who utilize on-line banking but only a small %age
use m$m or qkn. BTW, the # to call for more info is:
1 (800) 531-5779 -- this is on-line tech support.

The first thing that struck me when I read your initial post in
this thread is that this may indicate a bigger problem for those
(like myself) that like downloads.

I guessed the reasoning was as USAA told you, and I wondered if
this might not be true at other institutions as well. If so,
this could signal a trend; and a trend that could accelerate as
some fi's decide whether to (be forced to) upgrade from QIF
support to web-connect or direct download ... or just to drop
the whole thing.

I am curious why USAA elected to call you to tell you this news?

And, if you are looking for a bank in southern California that
offers just about everything and is quite good about downloads -
so far anyway - I can say that B of A has provided me with good
service. I don't live there anymore, but I still have a couple
of accounts there. B of A is definitely not perfect, but overall
I think they have done a good job.

 

[John Pollard]

Received a most unwelcome call today; as of 7/31/04 USAA will
no longer support qkn. We live in S. Calif. so guess we'll
start looking for a bank close by.

I have just received the following email from USAA in response
to my email to them asking about this subect; unless the sender
made a mistake, my reading is that USAA is *only* dropping
support for Quicken BillPay.

"Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding Quicken and
Microsoft Money BillPay
service. After careful consideration, USAA has decided to
discontinue
functionality for Quicken and MS Money BillPay due to increasing
support costs
and customer feedback. Our focus will be on supporting the Web
BillPay product,
which offers additional features not available in Quicken and MS
Money BillPay. You
will still be able to download all of your account activity
through Quicken and
MS Money and any transactions made through Web BillPay will be
included.

We understand this will be an inconvenience for you and
apologize. We would like
to assist you in the transition to another service. There are
alternatives that
will likely suit your needs. You are also able to directly
enroll for BillPay
services offered via Quicken and MS Money. This will allow you
to keep all of
your payee information and continue to pay bills via the
software."

 

[djebens]

djebens wrote:



I have just received the following email from USAA in response
to my email to them asking about this subect; unless the sender
made a mistake, my reading is that USAA is *only* dropping
support for Quicken BillPay.

I was under the impression that dropping billpay also meant the end to
downloading cleared transactions. When I have a chance I will call &
clarify. I'm surprised no one else has received this call.

 

[djebens]

I was under the impression that dropping billpay also meant the end to
downloading cleared transactions. When I have a chance I will call &
clarify. I'm surprised no one else has received this call.

Neglected to add that 1 problem w/the USAA web site is how SLOW it is.
We still use DUN & I have developed the habit of playing solitaire while
each page loads (many games). Other family members also bank w/ USAA &
experience the same thing.

 

[John Pollard]

I was under the impression that dropping billpay also meant the
end to downloading cleared transactions. When I have a chance I
will call & clarify. I'm surprised no one else has received
this call.

By all means call them; I hate unpleasant surprises so the more
verification we get the better. But this line from the email
they sent me seems to state clearly that downloading is not
being dropped.

"You will still be able to download all of your account activity
through Quicken and MS Money and any transactions made through
Web BillPay will be included."

 

[Tom Putnam]

Here is the reply I received today from USAA when I asked them if they were
ending Quicken support. The way I read it, they are discontinuing only one
thing, so whether their change will affect you will depend on whether you
use their Web BillPay or Quicken/Money's Bill Pay. Since I've been using
their Web BillPay and not Quicken's BillPay, I guess it doesn't affect me.

But, as an aside, perhaps somebody can explain to me the difference between
using USAA's Web BillPay and Quicken's Bill Pay. There seems to be 2
differences, one is that USAA's is free, regardless of the number of bills
paid while Quicken's costs (score one for the USAA plan) and that using
USAA's plan you have to enter the transaction twice, once on their website
and once in Quicken while using Quicken's plan you only have to enter it
once in Quicken and then upload (score one for the Quicken plan). Is that
it or am I missing something?

Anyway, here's what I received from USAA

--------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding Quicken and Microsoft Money
BillPay. After careful consideration, USAA has decided to discontinue
functionality for Quicken and MS Money BillPay due to increasing support
costs and customer feedback. Our focus will be on supporting the Web BillPay
product, which offers additional features not available in Quicken and MS
Money BillPay. You will still be able to download all of your account
activity through Quicken and MS Money and any transactions made through Web
BillPay will be included.

We understand this will be an inconvenience for you and apologize. We would
like to assist you in the transition to another service. There are
alternatives that will likely suit your needs. You are also able to directly
enroll for BillPay services offered via Quicken and MS Money. This will
allow you to keep all of your payee information and continue to pay bills
via the software. Please contact us at the number below to discuss these
options.

If you need further assistance, please contact us by e-mail or at (800)
531-5779. Our hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. - 10:00
p.m. CST, Saturday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CST and Sunday from 1:00 p.m.
to 6:00 p.m. CST.

Sincerely,

Magda Gonzales
E-Correspondence Specialist
USAA Federal Savings Bank

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

I have just received the following email from USAA in response
to my email to them asking about this subect; unless the sender
made a mistake, my reading is that USAA is *only* dropping
support for Quicken BillPay.

"Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding Quicken and
Microsoft Money BillPay
service. After careful consideration, USAA has decided to
discontinue
functionality for Quicken and MS Money BillPay due to increasing
support costs
and customer feedback. Our focus will be on supporting the Web
BillPay product,
which offers additional features not available in Quicken and MS
Money BillPay. You
will still be able to download all of your account activity
through Quicken and
MS Money and any transactions made through Web BillPay will be
included.

OK - that's fine. Never saw the benefit to paying $XX per month for bill paying
service. I put the vast majority of transactions on a credit card and the 5-6
per month web bill pay transactions are not difficult to do.

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

But, as an aside, perhaps somebody can explain to me the difference between
using USAA's Web BillPay and Quicken's Bill Pay. There seems to be 2
differences, one is that USAA's is free, regardless of the number of bills
paid while Quicken's costs (score one for the USAA plan) and that using
USAA's plan you have to enter the transaction twice, once on their website
and once in Quicken while using Quicken's plan you only have to enter it
once in Quicken and then upload (score one for the Quicken plan). Is that

USAA Web Bill Pay is free for up to 15 transactions per month. You only have to
enter the transaction in a second time if you do not auto download it.

 

[Tom Putnam]

<<...USAA Web Bill Pay is free for up to 15 transactions per month. You only
have to enter the transaction in a second time if you do not auto download
it...>>

Hmm, yep, true on the download, but wrong on the free part. They eliminated
the 15 transaction limit effective 1 April or 1 May (can't remember which)
and there is no limit any more. They changed it right after I opened an
account with them.

Tom

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

They eliminated
the 15 transaction limit effective 1 April or 1 May (can't remember which)
and there is no limit any more. They changed it right after I opened an
account with them.

You appear to be correct. I've been using it for 6 months or so and rarely
exceed 5-6 payments a month, so it hasn't been an issue. While I never saw any
notice, they no long have a limit on the web page. Cool.

 

[Tom Putnam]

I've been thinking about opening a banking account with USAA for a long time
but have never had any problems with my primary financial institution (San
Antonio Credit Union) in the 30+ years I've been with them so have been
loath to move, but finally said to heck with it and started moving over to
USAA when I found out that SACU didn't support Quicken nearly as much as
USAA. So after being a USAA member for almost 40 years, I finally have a
bank account with them. No need to rush things you know. <WG>

Tom

 

[Caleb Mochari]

Received a most unwelcome call today; as of 7/31/04 USAA will no longer
support qkn. We live in S. Calif. so guess we'll start looking for a
bank close by.

After reading this disturbing post I called USAA Banking Sales and
Services. When I reached a rep I told her I read USAA will no longer
support downloads or payments via Quicken, I further asked if this was
for all versions of Quicken and just Bill Payment or could I still
download my cleared transactions. She informed me that USAA would no
longer support Quicken in any way. Again I asked if that meant no bill
pay and no cleared transaction download and she told me "yes". I went
on to explain to her that I was very distressed by this news so much
that I would find a new bank that offered these convienent services.
She verified my USAA number and phone number and assured me that a
manager would call me within 24 hours (no later than 1230PM EDT
Tuesday, May 18, 2004).

I will post the results of my phone call.

Regards,
Caleb.

Those people who don't read have no advantage over those who can't.

please reply to newsgroup. Thanx

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