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Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Will you PLEASE stop saying this is encryption.  It is not.  It is obfuscation, and it is data destruction.  Encryption is a method of transmitting a message that ensures the message cannot be read by anyone other than the prearranged and intended recipient.  The point of encryption is that while the message is unreadable to an outsider, the actual transmitted data is recoverable, when the right decryption method is applied.  

Replacing every "encrypted" piece of data with the letter "X" is not encryption.  The data is not recoverable by any method whatsoever.  Stop misusing the language.  This is data destruction.  Obfuscation is a nicer word if you like, but this is NOT "encryption", so please stop using this word.

 

And the work-around of "Just manually upload your data" is very counter-productive, and short--sighted of Intuit and Chase (and now AMEX, apparently).    What happened to upgrades and updates not BREAKING things that previously worked.  Now, automatic download and Bank connections has become nearly useless, and automatic categorization is also damaged because the data has been destroyed.  Two thirds of my previously functional "Rules" are now useless.  Do we now advise all our clients with Chase Bank that they should stop using Chase?  or stop using QuickBooks?  Because this is quickly going to spiral into higher prices for doing bookkeeping.  "Well, you see, I have to manually enter all the Chase data by hand, you see, and it takes 150% longer to do."  

 

I have onel client who runs 4 businesses out of the same bank (Chase), and also has his personal checking account with Chase.  He frequently makes transfers between the different businesses and also makes contributions and transfers to and from his personal checking.  Previously I could easily classify these transfers based on the last four digits of the bank account included in the bank details.  Now they all contain exactly the same account number XXXX.  This is impossible to classify.  The data is not there any more.  I now have to either 1) open the bank website and look up each of the transactions manually using the date and amount to disambiguate them.  or 2) cease using the "Bank Connection" feature entirely for these accounts and go back to downloading the data from the bank manually as a csv file, post-processing it to make an acceptable format for QBO Import function, and proceeding from there.  Can anyone tell me why I should continue to use the "Bank Connection" feature fro Chase Bank, given this circumstance?  Has not QBO just become MUCH less valuable by this breaking of previously available functionality?

 

This is happening because Chase makes all data transfers run through a "third party" data transfer service that treats all data transfers the same.  QuickBooks and accounting services providers are treated exactly the same as "Android Game of the Month" transactions.  Do they seriously expect us to believe they could not have worked out a better solution than this?  Maybe this is because Intuit has moved into the payments arena.  I don't know.  But surely Chase could have arranged a different data delivery channel for accounting services vs payment services.  Whatever the case, it seems like no one at either of these giant companies actually cares what we think.  "Let them eat cake." didn't work out very well for Marie Antoinette.  And "Simply download the data directly from Chase." is not going to work out very well for Intuit.

Fixing this should be a priority for Chase and/or Intuit.  But it probably won't be.

tomvalentincpa
Level 2

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

This has been frustrating for us as well as we have had multiple companies transition over into CHASE
Now whenever we have to categorize money we have to go into the actual bank account to find where the money is going because the account number has been masked

Please fix this, it is a nightmare for productivity 

JamesAndrewM
QuickBooks Team

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

I appreciate you taking the time to post here in the thread.

 

It seems you posted a relevant question that my colleague 

MariaSoledadG answered. If you haven't received notification yet, please refer to this link for her response: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/reports-and-accounting/re-why-is-the-bank-feed-now....

 

For additional QuickBooks-related concerns, don't hesitate to post them here in the Community. We're always available and willing to lend a hand to your queries. Have a great day ahead.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Thank you, JamesAndrewM, for taking the time to make an attempt to reply.  But it seems you don't understand the issue any better than any of the other QuickBooks Team Members who have weighed in here.  I've had occasion to have a look at the (non)-answer you referred me to in another thread.  This reply is not new, as it has been raised here at least once in THIS thread.  It is not exactly an answer, and it introduces another level of either insufficient knowledge or outright dissembling.  The OAuth excuse does not fly, because while OAuth exists, and presumably Chase and others are using it, it is strictly an open source protocol for authenticating users to grant access to a protected resource.

 

   OAuth is not an organization, or a vendor, a corporation, or a data delivery service.  It is an authentication PROTOCOL.  It is a prescribed method for authentication of a user for the purpose of granting ACCESS.  It does not address data format or delivery methods at all.  It doesn't prescribe any particular method of obfuscation or encryption, or any other form of data protection at all beyond the simple act of authenticating the user, and granting permission for ACCESS to the resource.  While it may be true that Chase Bank and others are using OAuth to grant access to the data, a description of any type of obfuscation or encryption is not addressed anywhere in the OAuth protocol description.  This is out of scope for the OAuth protocol.  Once OAuth has been used to grant access to the data, there is no recommendation at all about how the data is formatted or delivered.  This is in the hands of the one to whom the data is delivered.  And OAuth has NOTHING to say about that at all.


   So "OAuth" is yet another red herring being waved under our noses, in the same manner as referring to the data transformation as "encryption", when it is purely "obfuscation" and results in irrecoverable data loss.  

 

   The ACTUAL problem is that Chase, in addition to requiring user authentication (presumably) using OAuth protocols, is using a third party (identity is not disclosed, but it is probably similar in nature and scope to Plaid) to deliver the data.  Someone in this chain of data delivery is obfuscating the data.  The data delivery chain is Chase >> (unidentified third party) >> Intuit. 

 

   Both Chase and Intuit can now plausibly blame the data destruction on this third party, with Chase delivering clear, albeit partially redacted data when accessed directly from Chase.  They can claim, "We are delivering exactly what you see on our website."  Intuit can claim "We are delivering the data exactly as we receive it from Chase." (carefully not mentioning the data flows through an intermediary third party).   The combination of these two claims places the responsibility directly on this third party.  We as users are presumably not supposed to notice this, and throw up our hands in despair. 


   Apparently we are also supposed to believe that neither of these giant corporations with TEAMS of developers have no idea that this is happening.  Well, I for one do not buy it.  And Chase and Intuit should both be ashamed of themselves for trying to deliberately foist this deception on unsuspecting users like myself.

 

   Escalate this to Intuit management and let them know that this is breaking the product we all signed up for (and pay handsomely to use).  If they don't care what we think about this, they should stop blowing smoke in our general direction, and simply come clean.  Just tell us "We don't care what happens to your user experience.  This is what we are doing.  We have our reasons, and we don't owe you peons any explanations."

 

   Well, some of us know how to read.  We know that this used to work, and now it doesn't.  We know that OAuth is not the problem.  And if you think going back to manually uploading downloaded data is good enough, and we will not care that your formerly quite functional labor-saving automation feature is now hopelessly broken by a third-party data delivery service, it won't be too long before some new software company will be eating your lunch.  

   Your C-Suite needs to be negotiating a better service level for Intuit data, or you will be competing with GnuCash.

frustrating01
Level 1

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Third-party redacting critical description information might be the best explanation I've seen. The bank and QBO support are either not caring or clueless about the issue. They just made reconciliations and cash app a lot more time-consuming. Those descriptions were used as unique id's to class and code bank transactions. 

frustrating01
Level 1

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

I found a fix. 

Goto Banking, untoggle 'Show bank details', and log out. Log bank in... and the description field is unredacted. Don't bother asking why this worked. I have no earthly idea. But it worked and for who knows how long.

MorganB
Content Leader

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Thanks so much for sharing this solution, frustrating01. One of the best aspects of the Community is that individuals who use QuickBooks everyday can share their personal experiences to help others. Take care!

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

I'm sorry to say this didn't work for me.  "Bank Details" does give more information than "Description", though.  But the critical information, like the (already partially redacted) bank account numbers is still fully obfuscated (appear as "XXXX" instead of the usual last four digits) by the Chase/Intuit delivery process via their selected (unidentified) third party.  Thanks for reporting, though.

Aviwebb
Level 1

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Thank you @Dave226, for keeping on this! At the very least, I know I'm not crazy: someone changed something and no one will say anything. Every QBO response posted weakens my confidence in this company.

tomvalentincpa
Level 2

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Noticed this has also started to plague AMEXs as well.

 

Categorizing money transfers from a CHASE to a CHASE is still a nightmare and might as well be throwing darts at a dart board because full transaction IDs and the last four of the accounts is fully obfuscated in the QBO bank feed. So if you have multiple transactions of the same $ amount, but they're all transfers, what's even the sense in accurate bookkeeping anymore? 

 

What's the sense in (what used to be) transparent information automatically being fed if we're "forced" to manually input them as the solution?

 

This isn't ideal considering part of the appeal is the bank feed being fed into QBO via the infrastructure, so I do not have to do manual excel inputs anymore.

I guess being set back 5 years in terms of work flow or more is perfectly okay with these institutions.

Dave4751
Level 2

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

I see that as of today this nightmare still is happening.

I have been working with the office of the President of both Chase and Intuit and neither has been able to get it fixed. By following the instructions of their technical staff they have managed to corrupt my financials. I am now missing two weeks of transactions in September, 2023.

My advice, - be very careful taking their advice. The Technical staff from both companies have no idea why this problem had existed for over 5 months and they have no clue as to how to fix it.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hi Dave4751 

Sorry to see someone else get their fingers stuck in the gears.

At this point, I have stopped believing the following:

We don't know why this is happening, but it's (someone else)'s fault.

We really want to fix this for our (valued?) customers.

We don't know how to fix this.

 

I am sure that this is not a technical problem.  It is a political problem.  The technical people have been instructed to make this happen, and they are also instructed NOT to fix it, nor to admit that it is even happening.  What I have not figured out yet is "What is the real agenda here?"  Someone is benefiting from this, but I have no idea who. or how. 

It must have been decided at a fairly high level, because no one on either side of the problem is making the slightest attempt to actually solve it, and the "efforts" to do something about it are halfhearted attempts at obfuscation and deflection. 

The proffered "solution", as you have so painfully discovered, is no solution at all.  If they really wanted to fix this, they would roll back whatever change they made to the system that caused it until they figure out how to accomplish whatever the real goal is without ruining 5 years of QBO development.

 

Bottom line:  They (for whatever reason) don't WANT to fix this (or even acknowledge that the problem exists).  It is a management failure, not a technical problem.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hello, DMichalski.

I'm reaching out to see if you have noted any change in this issue.

From my perspective, it seems there has been a change.  The information is still being redacted (including the ridiculous property of redacted telephone numbers, but now they appear to be leaving the last 4 digits unmolested.  This is a giant improvement, even though it is still going to cause some rules to require adjustment to restore functionality. 

Interesting that they (Intuit) are not reaching out to those of us affected by the issue to see if their "fix" is working.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hello Dave4751.

I'm reaching out to see if you have noted any change in this issue.

From my perspective, it seems there has been a change.  The information is still being redacted (including the ridiculous property of redacted telephone numbers, but now they appear to be leaving the last 4 digits unmolested.  This is a giant improvement, even though it is still going to cause some rules to require adjustment to restore functionality. 

Interesting that they (Intuit) are not reaching out to those of us affected by the issue to see if their "fix" is working.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hello Cboom8.

I'm reaching out to see if you have noted any change in this issue.

From my perspective, it seems there has been a change.  The information is still being redacted (including the ridiculous property of redacted telephone numbers), but now they appear to be leaving the last 4 digits unmolested.  This is a giant improvement, even though it is still going to cause some rules to require adjustment to restore functionality. 

Interesting that they (Intuit) are not reaching out to those of us affected by the issue to see if their "fix" is working.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hello, tomvalentincpa

I'm reaching out to see if you have noted any change in this issue.

From my perspective, it seems there has been a change.  The information is still being redacted (including the ridiculous property of redacted telephone numbers), but now they appear to be leaving the last 4 digits unmolested.  This is a giant improvement, even though it is still going to cause some rules to require adjustment to restore functionality. 

Interesting that they (Intuit) are not reaching out to those of us affected by the issue to see if their "fix" is working.

Dave226
Level 3

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

Hello AviWebb

I'm reaching out to see if you have noted any change in this issue.

From my perspective, it seems there has been a change.  The information is still being redacted (including the ridiculous property of redacted telephone numbers), but now they appear to be leaving the last 4 digits unmolested.  This is a giant improvement, even though it is still going to cause some rules to require adjustment to restore functionality. 

Interesting that they (Intuit) are not reaching out to those of us affected by the issue to see if their "fix" is working.

Dave4751
Level 2

Bank transaction Detail text changed / obfuscated by QBO

It would appear that as of October 23, 2023 the problem with the last 4 digits being changed to X's has been corrected. My transactions as of that date now show the last four digits of account numbers.

It's interesting that no one has bothered to tell us it was fixed.

Nobody wants to tell who did it and why it took months to fix it.

But, in the process of working with Chase and Intuit "experts" trying to fix this problem they managed to corrupt my financials.I have lost a couple weeks worth of transactions in September.

I suggest everyone take a hard look at their financials by week to see if you have missing data.

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