Set Up Online Accounts

To use online banking, you must first have access to the Internet, because Quicken uses the Internet to transmit and receive financial information from your bank. You must contact your bank or other financial institution (for example, a credit union or credit card company) to get online access for checking, savings, and credit card accounts. Not all financial institutions support online banking, and some support it only for certain account types, such as checking, but not credit card accounts. If you have accounts at more than one financial institution that you want to enable for online access, you'll need to apply to each one separately.

After you have signed up for online banking, your financial institution will mail you a kit with information to help you set up your Quicken accounts for online banking. For security purposes, this kit will usually be sent by U.S. Postal Service. You'll also receive an initial personal identification number (PIN), which you should change in your first online banking session. After you have received this kit, it's time to online-enable your accounts; that is, you'll set them up for online access.

To enable an existing account for online use on Windows, begin by selecting the account in the Account Bar. Choose Online > Online Account Services Setup. The Online Account Setup dialog appears. Click Edit Existing Quicken Account .

Select the account that you wish to online-enable in the scrolling list, and click Next. The login screen for your financial institution appears (you told Quicken the financial institution for the account when you created the account; see Chapter 2 for more details). Enter the information requested in the login screen, then click Next . In this example, Wells Fargo Bank uses the Direct Connect method, which requires my Social Security number (as the account name ) and the PIN that the bank sent to me. Your financial institution may require different information.

Quicken connects to your financial institution, and confirms that your account name and PIN are correct. Many financial institutions require that you change the PIN at this time, and will display a screen where you put in a new PIN. Enter and confirm the new PIN, and then click Next.

If you have multiple accounts at the financial institution, Quicken will detect them and ask which of the accounts you want to use. Choose the account from the pop-up menu, and then click Next.

If there are additional accounts and your financial institution uses Direct Connect, Quicken may ask you to match the financial institution accounts with your Quicken accounts. If you don't want to do that, choose Do not use this account in Quicken from the pop-up menu. Otherwise, choose an account from the pop-up menu next to each account Quicken found, then click Next.

Quicken shows you a summary screen with a list of the accounts that you have online-enabled. Click Done. Quicken automatically connects to your financial institution and downloads all transactions from the last 60-90 days, then displays the Online Update Summary dialog.

See the compare transactions section later in this chapter to learn how to deal with the downloaded transactions.

To online-enable an existing account for the Mac, click the Banking tab on the Toolbar, then choose Lists > Accounts. The Accounts list appears.

From the Financial institution pop-up menu, choose Select financial institution . Quicken will connect to the Internet and update the list of financial institutions, then will display the Financial Institutions window.

Scroll through the list to find your financial institution, click to select it in the list, then click Use. Quicken will ask for your Customer ID and PIN.

Many financial institutions require that you change the PIN at this time, and will display a screen where you put in a new PIN. Enter and confirm the new PIN, and then click OK.

If you have multiple accounts at the financial institution, Quicken will detect them and display the Review Accounts dialog, asking which of the accounts you want to use.

If you don't want to online-enable an account, uncheck it in the list. For accounts you want to online-enable, choose the Quicken account you want to associate it with using the pop-up menus in the Store in the Quicken Account column. When you're done, click OK.

Quicken connects to your financial institution and downloads the recent (60-90 days, depending on your institution) transactions for the selected accounts. The Download Transactions screen appears; see the compare transactions section later in this chapter to learn how to deal with the downloaded transactions.