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Even if your financial institution doesn't support online banking, you can still use online bill payment through Intuit, which allows you to pay anyone , regardless of whether they can accept online payments (if necessary, Intuit writes and mails a paper check for you). -
Each financial institution sets its own fees for online banking, and the amount varies from bank to bank, so it's a good idea to shop around for the best deal. -
There are approximately 2,000 financial institutions that support online access for Quicken for Windows, and about 1,300 that support online access for Quicken for Mac. You can get an up-to-date list of the financial institutions by choosing Online > Participating Financial Institutions on Windows or by choosing Online > Financial Institutions on the Mac, then clicking the Update List button. -
Depending on your financial institution, you'll connect and download transactions in one of two fashions . The first, Direct Connect , is the easiest and best way to connect. It allows Quicken to connect directly with your bank's computers to download transactions, exchange payment instructions, transfer funds between accounts, and exchange e-mail about your accounts. Financial institutions that don't support Direct Connect instead offer Web Connect , which uses the bank's Web site in conjunction with your Web browser to do some of the work of displaying and downloading your financial information. Financial institutions that use Web Connect require you to go to the bank's Web site and log in before you can download your account transactions. Web Connect downloads a file with the transactions to your computer; Quicken then reads the file and imports the transactions. -
Worried about the security of online banking? Don't be. Besides the security provided by your PINs, Quicken encrypts all of the information that is transferred back and forth. Encryption is a technique that scrambles data before it is sent using a mathematical algorithm. At the other end, your bank unscrambles the data. Quicken uses 128-bit DES (Data Encryption Standard) encryption along with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) transfer protocols. This makes online banking through Quicken even more secure than, for example, purchasing goods and services from online merchants . |
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Your financial institution may label ATM transactions and service charges as EFT, which stands for Electronic Funds Transfer. -
If you turn on Auto-Reconcile, Quicken will automatically begin the reconciliation process after you complete comparing transactions. See the Quicken User Guide for information about turning on Auto-Reconcile. |
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Make the password that you use to lock up the PIN Vault different from any of the PINs that are stored in the Vault. That way if the password for the Vault is compromised, you haven't given away the keys for any of the individual accounts. -
When you pick a PIN, don't use easy to figure out numbers such as the numeric portion of your street address, or your birthday, or the last four digits of your telephone number. The whole point of a PIN is security. Instead, use combinations of numbers that you don't have trouble remembering but that other people wouldn't know or couldn't easily find out, like the number of your college dorm room. -
Once your PINs are in the PIN Vault, you cannot view them within Quicken, because they appear as asterisks in the program. But on Quicken for Windows, you can print a listing of them, revealing each PIN. Choose Online > PIN Vault > Edit. You'll be asked for your PIN Vault password. Enter the password, then in the PIN Vault dialog, click the Print button. |
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If your payee is set up to receive electronic funds transfers, payment is transferred directly from your account to your payee's account. This takes between two and four business days. If the payee doesn't accept EFTs, your financial institution prints a paper check and sends it to the payee by U.S. mail. It's important that you allow sufficient time for the payment to get to the payee to avoid a late charge, so make sure that you schedule payments at least three or four days before a payment due date. -
Don't forget that a payee will often need a day or two after receiving a check to process the payment and credit your account. |
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Money transferred between online accounts will usually be transferred between those accounts on the next business day. -
Transfers and credit card accounts are dealt with as payments, and transfers from credit card accounts to checking or savings accounts are usually considered to be cash advances. You should check with your bank for their detailed policy on such transfers, since fees may apply. |
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