Repeatedly being asked to verify identity for bank connections

Thank you for providing details, Heather-Starr.

Let me share what I know about the alert you receive when connecting your bank into QuickBooks Online.

This happens when your bank or financial institution needs you to verify some information for security reasons. It'll usually ask you to answer security questions or you need to enter a one-time password (OTP). 

That being said, it depends on your financial institution if you really need to go through this process each time you update your online banking. If you're able to verify all the info asked but still getting the same error, I recommend contacting your bank to help you access it.

I've included this article to know what to do if you receive bank errors: What to do if you get a bank error or can't download transactions in QuickBooks Online.

You can also check out this link if you'd like to try and manually upload bank transaction into QuickBooks Online. 

Post your concerns or click the reply button below if you still have other questions about banking. I'm always here to help. Have a nice weekend!

Thank you for replying.  It just seems strange to me that it happens across all of my clients with different banks. Some large, some small:  TD Bank, Heritage Family Credit Union, and Vermont State Employers Credit Union. 

And just to clarify, once I am able to verify the identity with the one time code, it updates the connection, but immediately stops it again for the next time, as if it doesn't save the  credentials for future use.

Thanks for the additional information, @Heather-Starr.

Currently, we have an ongoing investigation about getting this error 185 many times to an existing connection. Rest assured that our engineers are working diligently to get it resolved.
 
I recommend contacting our Customer Care Support team so that you can be added to the list of affected users. This way, you'll receive email updates of the investigation's status and be notified once it's been resolved. I've included the steps to contact support below.

Here's how:

1. Click the (?) Help icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Dashboard.
2. Select Talk to a Human.
3. Enter a short description of your concern and press Enter.
4. Click I still need a human.
5. Select Contact Us to connect with our live support.
6. Choose Get a callback.
   

I appreciate your patience as we work through this. If you have any other concerns, please don't hesitate to drop a comment below. Take care. 

Hi there, @Anonymous.

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community. I'll share details of what error 185 means and to ensure you'll get updates on this.

Before we start, can you please verify the name of your bank? This way, we can further check the status of your bank's connection. 

Error 185 means your bank or financial institution (FI) requires additional security questions after entering your credentials. The system depends on the security protocol your bank has implemented to make it successful.

Since you're still getting the error, I recommend contacting your bank to know if there's an ongoing system maintenance that may lead to this problem. 

You can also read this article for more details: Fix banking error 185.

You might want to learn more about categorizing and matching your bank transactions. Here's an article you can read for more guidance: Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.

If there's anything I can further assist you with your bank accounts, you can leave a comment below. I'll be sure to get back to you.

I'm seeing it repeatedly with Scotiabank.

It pops up in the Scotiabank app, I do what it asks, then it asks again immediately in an endless loop.

It's not failing the authentication, it asks "is this you?" I answer yes, and log into the app as it asks me, then back again to "is this you?"

Hey there QED, 

Thanks for chiming in on this thread! Could you confirm if this occurs when trying to connect your bank to QuickBooks Online?

Still having this problem today.  What is the resolution?

I have some information on why you're being asked to verify your bank connection identity. I'll guide you on how you can fix this.

But before we start, may I know what's the name of your bank?

We technically categorize this bank connection issue as Error 185. This signifies that your bank or financial institution needs more information from you after you've entered your credentials. This is an additional security requirement laid down by your financial institution. To fix this, you can either address the security questions by answering them correctly or get your one-time password and enter it each time you see Error 185. 

You'll want to reach out to your bank and ask them if there's something that they can do about the verification process. Otherwise, you can get in touch with our support team if this isn't a bank issue. They have the tools to pull up your account in a secure environment.

Furthermore, many banks are switching to a new connection service called OAuth. Learn more from this article on how you can make the connection faster: What's OAuth And What's Changing With Online Bank Connections.

Reach out to us if you have any questions about connection issues. We'd be glad to help.

The name of the bank is BCU - a credit union.  I have other clients I work with and I do not have this issue.  The client I am working with never had this problem with previous accountants.  

I appreciate you joining this thread, @Ggiralamo1. Allow me to help you through this time.

Since the bank connection works perfectly from their previous accountants, let's do a few things to determine why it happened on your end.

Aside from error 185, did you get another error code? If yes, I recommend checking this article to review specific bank errors. It also provides information on how to fix it, depending on the error received: Step 4: Fix specific bank errors.

If you can access your client's bank feed without any problem, we can manually upload their bank data. You can ask your client to log in to their bank website and get their transactions using a CSV file. 

Once done, we can follow the steps below to bring them into QuickBooks.

1. Go to the Bookkeeping or Transactions menu.
2. Within the Banking tab, click Upload transactions.
3. Select Drag and drop or select files and select the file you downloaded from your bank. Then select Continue.
4. In the QuickBooks account ▼  dropdown, select the account you want to upload the transactions into. Then select Continue.

For the information and steps on importing bank data, we can visit this article: Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online.

These articles will guide you when reviewing and reconciling accounts in QuickBooks:

• Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.
• Learn the reconciliation workflow in QuickBooks.

If you have more concerns about connecting accounts and handling transactions, please know that I'm here to help you. Take care and stay safe. 

I am also having this issue. QBO keeps responding that the issue has been resolved, but it has not.

Let me provide some information about your bank connection issues, Propery1.

The QuickBooks Online (QBO) bank feed connections is an agreement between Intuit and your financial institution to provide your data directly. Therefore, one must grant permission so the bank knows you're allowing this and that its you.

Verifying your identity also provides protection against password theft. May I know what's the name of your bank. This will be our basis so we can trace if other banks are also experiencing the same problem.

In the meantime, we can resolve the Error 185 issues based from the instructions below:

For security questions: If your bank or financial institution asks you a security question, you can enter your answer. After that, you'll see this error again the next time you update if you have multiple security questions. Once you enter your answers, QuickBooks Online remembers the security questions you have been asked and answers for you.

For One-Time Password: If your bank or financial institution asks for an one-time password, get your one-time password (on a device, through text, call, etc.), and enter it each time you see Error 185.

Furthermore, after you've connected your bank, QuickBooks downloads transactions. Learn how QuickBooks suggests categories for these transactions based on how you, and other customers, categorized similar transactions. To learn more, read this article for more details: Categorize Online Bank Transactions In QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if you have any questions about the error. Remember, we're here to help you anytime of the day. Have a nice day!

Same problem with Schools First FCU and I contacted the bank union and they said that everything looks good on their side and they see that I am trying to connect multiple times 

I know how important is it for you to connect your bank in QuickBooks Online, @ZachZimmer. Let me share some information about bank connection issues.

First of all, I just want to ask if you received a specific error while connecting your bank to QuickBooks? If yes I recommend checking out this link about fixing bank errors: Fix bank error 185 in QuickBooks Online.

Otherwise, if it doesn't have an error I suggest contacting our Customer Service Support. Since they have secure access to your account they can closely examine the problem and conduct further troubleshooting to fix it.

Here's how:

1. Navigate to the Help icon located in the upper right-hand corner.
2. In the Help window, select the Contact Us button located at the bottom.
3. Enter your queries and hit on Let's Talk.
4. Choose either Start a chat or Call us.

If you have the new QuickBooks Assistant help update, you can follow these steps:

1. In your QuickBooks Online account, go to the Help > Assistant.
2. Type Talk to a human and click the Contact a human button.
3. Select Live Chat / Call me back.

Nevertheless, you can visit these resourceful articles that will guide you when reviewing and reconciling accounts in QuickBooks:

• Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.
• Learn the reconciliation workflow in QuickBooks.

Don't hesitate to post in the Community if you have more concerns about connecting accounts and handling transactions or any other QuickBooks-related concerns. I'm always here ready to help. Stay safe always.

I just started getting this same error yesterday, everytime I log out and log back in I need to repeat the process. I have clicked on the link provided in this thread to Fix the error and it does not fix it.

Thanks for becoming part of the Community and getting involved with this thread, Mel727.
 

If you've already performed your relevant troubleshooting steps for Bank Error 185, as covered in MariaSoledadG's post, but the message continues displaying when you try updating, I'd recommend checking your browser. It's possible this could have something to do with temporary internet files. Browsing applications store these types of records, but sometimes they can cause issues with certain webpages. You can open a private window and check to see the error continues displaying.
 

Here's how to access incognito mode in some of the most commonly used web browsers:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

If you don't encounter Bank Error 185 while browsing privately, it's safe to say this problem's being caused by your browser. It can be fixed by clearing cached data and Intuit-specific cookies.
 

In the event you continue encountering the message while browsing in incognito mode, you'll initially want to try switching to another browsing application.
 

Here's a list of supported browsers:

• Google Chrome - version 78 or newer
• Mozilla Firefox - version 76 or newer
• Microsoft Edge - version 79 or newer
• Opera - version 68 or newer
• Samsung - version 10 or newer
• Safari - version 12 or newer

QuickBooks supports the current and two previous versions of browsers. If you find that you're using an unsupported version, make sure to update it to its latest release. Steps for doing so can be found on the particular company's website.
 

In the event you've found no problems that could be causing this with your browser, you'll want to check the operating system and internet speed you're working with.
 

Here's our recommended operating systems and internet speeds:
 

• Windows PC - Windows 10, Intel Core i3 or a comparable processor (2013 or newer) with at least 2 GB of RAM, or Windows 10, Intel Core i5 or comparable processor with at least 4 GB of RAM.
• Mac - OS X El Capitan 10.11, OS X High Sierra 10.13, or newer.
• Linux - QuickBooks works with Linux, but you'll want to make sure you're using a supported browser and our recommended internet speeds.
• Internet connection - 1.5 Mbps to 3 Mbps or higher.

If you meet our system requirements, but are still encountering Bank Error 185 while updating, I'd recommend using a different device and/or internet connection. If it continues happening on other devices and internet connections, you'll want to get in touch with our Customer Care team. They'll be able to pull up your account in a secure environment, conduct further research, and create an investigation ticket if necessary.
 

They can be reached while you're signed in.
 

Here's how:

1. Use the Help (?) icon.
   
   
    
2. Click Contact Us.
   
   
    
3. Enter a description of your situation in the What can we help you with? field, then hit Let's talk.
   
   
    
4. Select Start messaging or Get a call.
   
   

Be sure to review their support hours so you'll know when agents are available.

I've also included a couple detailed resources about Bank Error 185 and system requirements for QuickBooks which may come in handy moving forward:
 

• Fix bank error 185
• System requirements

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have an awesome Wednesday!