QuickBooks is unable to verify the financial institution

Fix the QuickBooks Desktop error “unable to verify the Financial Institution information for this download”. Find your bank’s INTU.BID in a bank .qbo or .qfx file, rebuild the Web Connect file, then run Intuit’s checks.

By FilesToQBO · Reviewed . Menu labels and supported workflows can change; check the linked Intuit instructions for your edition.

What the message means

Before QuickBooks Desktop imports a Web Connect (.qbo) file, it looks up the bank named inside the file. If it cannot match that bank to one it supports for Web Connect, the import stops with “QuickBooks is unable to verify the Financial Institution information for this download.” Intuit troubleshoots these related messages the same way:

  • “QuickBooks found an error. We can’t read the file [your financial institution] sent.”
  • “An error occurred while processing your online banking data.”
  • “Your data was not imported into QuickBooks.”

On QuickBooks for Mac, a failed Web Connect import is often reported as error OL-222.

The bank ID inside the file

The bank is identified in the sign-on block at the top of the file. Open any .qbo file in a text editor and you will find something like this:

<SONRS>
  …
  <FI>
    <ORG>B1
    <FID>10898
  </FI>
  <INTU.BID>10898
</SONRS>
  • INTU.BID is Intuit’s own ID for the bank, and the value QuickBooks uses to recognise it. A missing or unrecognised value is the usual cause of this error in a converted file.
  • FID is the bank’s OFX institution ID. It is often the same number, but not always, so do not substitute it blindly.
  • ORG is just a name. Changing it does not fix the error.

A file downloaded from the bank with its QuickBooks or Quicken option carries the correct INTU.BID. A file made by a converter carries whatever ID the converter writes. A generic ID may be accepted by one QuickBooks setup and rejected by another, so the reliable fix is to use your own bank’s ID.

Find your bank’s ID

Download one QuickBooks (.qbo) or Quicken (.qfx) file from your bank, for any date range, or use one you already have. Drop it here to read its IDs.

Find your bank’s ID

Drop a .qbo, .qfx or .ofx file your bank gave you, even an old one. It is read in your browser and never uploaded. Account numbers are shortened to the last four digits.

Drop a bank .qbo, .qfx or .ofx file

or choose a file

Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Rebuild the file with that ID

  1. Open the converter for your source file: CSV to QBO, QFX to QBO, OFX to QBO, QIF to QBO or a PDF statement.
  2. Under Bank ID (INTU.BID), choose Custom and enter the number you found.
  3. Download the new .qbo file and import it with Banking › Bank Feeds › Import Web Connect Files. Choose “Use an existing account” and pick the account you already use for this bank.
  4. Review the transactions before adding or matching them.

If your bank offers no QuickBooks or Quicken download at all, it may not support Web Connect, and no bank ID will make QuickBooks Desktop accept its transactions this way. Use an IIF import in Desktop after backing up, or upload a CSV in QuickBooks Online.

If the bank’s own file fails too

Then the problem is in QuickBooks or the bank, not the ID. Back up your company file first, then work through Intuit’s checks in order:

  1. Update QuickBooks Desktop, confirm your version still supports online banking, and sign in to your Intuit account inside QuickBooks. Importing .qbo files requires it.
  2. Sign in to the bank’s website and read its messages. Banks can block downloads until you confirm your identity.
  3. Switch Bank Feeds mode: Banking › Bank Feeds › Change Bank Feeds Mode › Classic (Register) mode, then import again.
  4. Import the file into a new test company. If it works there, disconnect and reconnect the account in your real file. If it fails there too, contact the bank with your bank log files.

Intuit’s Web Connect troubleshooting steps