OFX to QFX Converter: Make Quicken Accept Your OFX File

Quick Answer: A QFX file is an OFX file with Intuit's extra tags, chiefly <INTU.BID>, the bank ID Quicken checks before importing. To convert OFX to QFX, open the file in a text editor, add an <INTU.BID> line with a valid bank ID in the sign-on block, and save it with a .qfx extension. Going from QFX to OFX, you rename the file and optionally delete the INTU lines.

OFX (Open Financial Exchange) is the open standard banks use for transaction downloads. QFX is Quicken's flavour of it: the same structure, plus Intuit-specific tags that identify the bank to Quicken's Web Connect service. Quicken looks for those tags, so a plain OFX file from a bank or app is often refused even though every transaction in it is valid.

Why does Quicken reject an OFX file?

Quicken imports bank downloads through Web Connect, and Web Connect wants to know which financial institution the file came from. It reads that from the <INTU.BID> value. A plain OFX file either lacks the tag or carries only the standard <FI> block, so Quicken cannot place it.

Quicken's support article on verification errors lists the reasons a file fails this check:

• the financial institution information in the file is incorrect or missing,
• the institution does not support that account type,
• the institution does not support your Quicken release,
• your computer's system date is wrong (it notes this happens around daylight saving changes),
• Quicken 2017 and older, whose connected services have been discontinued.

Before editing anything, rule out the last two. Check the date on your computer and update Quicken through Help > Check for Updates, as that page suggests. If the file came straight from your bank as a .qfx and still fails, the problem is on the bank's side, and Quicken's advice is to contact the bank.

What is the difference inside the file?

Here is the start of a typical OFX 1.x file after its header lines:

<OFX>
<SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
<SONRS>
<STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<DTSERVER>20260314120000
<LANGUAGE>ENG
<FI><ORG>EXAMPLE BANK<FID>10898</FI>
</SONRS>
</SIGNONMSGSRSV1>

The QFX version of the same block adds one line after the <FI> element:

<FI><ORG>EXAMPLE BANK<FID>10898</FI>
<INTU.BID>10898
</SONRS>

Some QFX files also carry <INTU.USERID>, which Quicken does not need for a manual import. Everything below the sign-on block, including the account details and each <STMTTRN> transaction, is identical between the two formats. Our OFX file format guide explains the rest of the structure.

How do you convert OFX to QFX by hand?

1. Copy the file. Work on a duplicate so you can start over.
2. Open it in a plain-text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit (in plain-text mode). Word processors add formatting that breaks the file.
3. Find the bank ID. The best source is a .qfx you previously downloaded from the same bank: open it and copy its <INTU.BID> value. Without one, the bank's <FID> value in the OFX file is sometimes the same number, but not always.
4. Insert the tag. On a new line directly after the closing </FI> tag, inside <SONRS>, type <INTU.BID> followed by the number. In older SGML-style OFX there is no closing tag for this element.
5. Check the account type. Make sure the account section matches the Quicken account: <BANKACCTFROM> for checking and savings, <CCACCTFROM> for credit cards.
6. Save with a .qfx extension. If your editor appends .txt, rename the file afterwards.
7. Back up Quicken, then import the file into the matching account and review the downloaded transactions before accepting them.

If Quicken still says it cannot verify the institution, the bank ID you used belongs to an institution that does not support Web Connect for that account type. Try the ID from a different QFX download for the same bank, or use a converter that supplies a working one.

Is there a free OFX to QFX converter?

The manual edit above is free and takes two minutes once you have a bank ID. Beyond that:

That last row matters. Many banks that offer OFX also offer a "Quicken" or "Web Connect" download. A genuine QFX from the bank carries a bank ID Quicken already trusts, so there is nothing to convert.

QuickBankConvert accepts OFX as an input format alongside PDF statements. Upload the .ofx download, check the transactions in the preview, and download QFX for Quicken, which needs the Plus plan. The same upload can also give you CSV or Excel. Our Quicken integration page describes the import side, and if your starting point is a PDF rather than OFX, the PDF to QFX page covers that route.

Before importing any converted file, the free file checker reads .qfx and .ofx files and flags a missing or placeholder INTU.BID, along with other structural problems.

How do you convert QFX to OFX?

This direction is easier, because OFX-reading programs generally ignore Intuit's extra tags.

1. Copy the .qfx file.
2. Rename the copy's extension from .qfx to .ofx.
3. Optionally, open it in a text editor and delete the <INTU.BID> and <INTU.USERID> lines for a strictly standard file.
4. Import it into the target program, such as GnuCash, Moneydance, Xero or another app that reads OFX.

If the target app still refuses it, check the OFX version in the header. Older files are SGML-style (VERSION:102) and some newer apps expect the XML style (VERSION:200 or later with an <?xml declaration). Converting between those is a structural rewrite, not a rename, and a converter is the practical choice.

What should you check after the QFX imports?

A file that imports without an error can still be wrong, so spend a minute on these before accepting everything:

• Ending balance. The file carries a <LEDGERBAL> block with the balance and its date. Compare it with the Quicken register balance on that date once the transactions are accepted. A mismatch usually means a missing or duplicated transaction, or a starting balance that was off before the import.
• Date range. Look at the earliest and latest transaction in the downloaded list. If you edited the file by hand and accidentally cut a block, the gap shows here.
• Matched versus new. Quicken marks downloaded rows it has matched to existing register entries. If you expected matches and everything shows as new, the transactions were probably entered with different amounts or dates, and accepting them all would double the activity.
• Payee renaming. Quicken's renaming rules apply to Web Connect imports, so payees may look different from the raw <NAME> values. That is expected, not a conversion error.

If something is off, undo by restoring the backup you made before importing, fix the file, and import again.

What else causes OFX or QFX imports to fail?

• Wrong account type, such as a credit card file imported into a checking account, which reverses signs.
• Duplicate transaction IDs. Each <FITID> must be unique; files assembled by hand sometimes repeat them, and Quicken skips the duplicates.
• Date problems. OFX dates are YYYYMMDD with optional time; anything else is rejected or misread.
• Encoding. Characters such as accented letters in payee names need the encoding declared in the header to match the file.

For more on the formats themselves and when each is the right choice, see our OFX vs QFX comparison.

Related guides

• How OFX and QFX differ
• OFX structure, tag by tag
• Importing into Quicken
• QFX from a PDF statement