Chapter 6. Online Banking

Before online banking, your bank balance was like the surprise ending of a film thriller. You had to wait until your bank statement arrived (by snail mail) to discover how much money you had on hand, which checks and deposits had cleared, and whether you were overdrawn. But with Quicken and almost every financial institution offering online banking, you can view those balances and transactions any time, download them into your Quicken data file, and take evasive action to avoid bank fees for bounced checks and low balances.

You can also pay bills online without having to write checks, lick stamps, or drive to the post office. For the ultimate in convenience, you can set up recurring payments so you can go on a long vacation without worrying about missing your mortgage payment.

First, you’ve got to do some setup. (There had to be a catch.) You need to sign up for your bank’s online services, and instruct Quicken how to connect to them. This chapter explains how online services work, and shows you step-by-step how to link Quicken to them, download transactions, and make online payments. You’ll also learn how to compare downloaded transactions ...

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