Citizens Bank Home Equity Line of Credit shows available credit as balance and it's negative

nmcmahon1215
nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭
edited September 19 in Adding and Updating Accounts

I have a connection with

Citizens Bank-Not Your TypicalBank
http://www.citizensbank.com/ 

My checking account displays correctly, but I also have a Home Equity Line of Credit with this bank. For quite a while now, the balance displays incorrectly. Instead of displaying the balance on my line of credit, it shows my available credit as a negative balance.

For example:

HELOC with 25k balance on a line of credit up to 100k total displays a -75k balance in Simplifi (where it should display -25k). This drastically throws off the Net Worth value

[edited title]

Comments

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    Thanks for reaching out! This may be a case of how the bank is downloading the information to Quicken Simplifi when connecting. If you go to your bank's website, how does the account balance appear there? Can you provide a screenshot showing the difference between the bank's website account balance and the account balance shown in Quicken Simplifi?

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    The balance on the website shows the amount displayed in Simplifi, but the label on the amount is "Available To Borrow"

    Including screenshots with exact amounts redacted

    Screenshot 2025-08-06 at 3.49.14 PM.png Screenshot 2025-08-06 at 3.50.53 PM.png
  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    Thank you for the screenshots! Is the amount displayed on the bank's website also negative, as displayed in Quicken Simplifi? If so, then the bank is most likely downloading the balance as it appears on the bank website.

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    @Coach Jon No, it's not listed as negative. It only displays as negative in Simplifi

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    Thanks for confirming. I would see if establishing a fresh connection fixes the issue with the balance appearing negative.

    • Make all of the accounts with the bank manual by following the steps here.
    • Once you see the account(s) listed in the Manual Accounts section under Settings > Accounts, go back through the Add Account flow to reconnect to the bank.
    • If the connection is successful, carefully link the account(s) found to your existing Quicken Simplifi account(s) by following the steps here.

    Let us know if that works!

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    @Coach Jon Hi I've already done the typical steps like this a few times. I'm fairly confident this is a bug in the integration with Citizen's, specifically for a HELOC type account

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    I understand, however, we will still need to troubleshoot to determine how to resolve the issue. If you have already tried the steps I shared above, and the issue is still present, then please provide the following information:

    • The name of the account in question, as it appears in Quicken Simplifi.
    • The name of the account in question, as it appears on the bank's website.
    • A fresh screenshot of the balance for the account in Quicken Simplifi.
    • A screenshot of the balance displayed on the bank's website for comparison.
    • A screenshot of the Accounts Summary page from the bank's website that lists all accounts and balances (feel free to redact any personal info) and has a wide enough scope to show the page URL (this must be taken from a web browser and not a mobile browser).

    You may feel free to DM this information for privacy reasons!

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    @Coach Jon DM'ed

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    Thanks for the reply! I did escalate this to our service provider, and I will be sure to follow up here with any status updates going forward!

    -Coach Jon

    EWC - 11895037

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭
    edited August 8

    @Coach Jon Thank you!

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin
    edited August 11

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    I am back with an update from our service provider on this issue. They informed us that when downloading data for Home Equity Line of Credit accounts from the financial institution, the balance and transactional data are received in the opposite format to what the bank's website displays. This would mean that the account balance would show as negative in your situation, and payments would also be downloaded as positive transactions. Basically, the way the account is displayed currently in Quicken Simplifi is normal.

    I hope this makes sense! Since the aggregation is set up this way for this type of account, it may be better/easier for you to track the account manually within Quicken Simplifi. The steps to do that can be found here: Managing Transactions in Quicken Simplifi | Quicken Simplifi Help Center

    Here are instructions on how to make the account manual: https://support.simplifi.quicken.com/en/articles/5321064-how-to-make-an-account-manual#h_d9c41566d8

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    @Coach Jon The transactions download correctly (draws on the account being negative, and payments positive), but the account balance is definitely not a "normal" behavior, as I don't owe the amount of my credit limit. Additionally, while I appreciate the tip, manual accounts are a hassle to manage and isn't really a solution for a paid product. Can you please push back on the service provider since this is clearly not displayed correctly.

  • Coach Jon
    Coach Jon Moderator admin

    Hello @nmcmahon1215,

    Thanks for the reply. I do understand where you are coming from; however, since the aggregation is set up this way for these types of accounts, we will not be able to re-escalate this issue to our service provider. I did advise my team on your feedback regarding this issue as well.

    I do apologize for not having a better answer for you.

    -Coach Jon

  • nmcmahon1215
    nmcmahon1215 Member ✭✭✭

    @Coach Jon This is extremely disappointing to hear, especially since a financial planning software that doesn't add balances correctly is far from useful.

  • wrankin
    wrankin Member

    I am a brand new user, and have your exact same issue with the same bank. Disappointing, for sure. I was able to work with Fidelity Investments and get a resolution with something very similar the way the HELOC shows up in their full view.

    You can link to the financial institution, but the information is bogus, and I guess that's OK with Intuit. It's making me regret my purchase decision.

This discussion has been closed.