QuickBooks .QBO (Web Connect) import errors: OL-222, OL-221, “unable to verify the financial institution” and how to fix them

A .QBO file is QuickBooks' Web Connect format: the "Download for QuickBooks" file your bank offers. When it won't import you get a short message and little else: "QuickBooks is unable to verify the Financial Institution information for this download", OL-222, OL-221, OL-301, or no error at all and half your transactions missing. This guide puts every message Intuit documents in one place, for QuickBooks Desktop on Windows, QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online. For each one you get what Intuit says causes it and the fix, plus an annotated good and bad .QBO file and a checklist to run before you import. If you're on Desktop 2023, start with the first section: since May 31, 2026, the problem may not be your file at all.

First: which QuickBooks are you on?

The same .QBO file can import in one product and fail in another, so start here:

Desktop errors: symptom → cause → fix

Intuit groups Web Connect problems into two help articles: Fix Web Connect import errors (the message-based ones) and Fix OL and OLSU Bank Feeds errors (the codes). Neither gives each code its own meaning. What they give is a list of possible causes and one fix sequence, so the table follows them. Where a cause comes from somewhere else, the table says so.

QuickBooks Online upload errors

QuickBooks Online takes .QBO files through Upload from file. Intuit's guidelines for transaction files: English, 350 KB or less, and up to 1,000 lines (transactions) per upload. Intuit suggests a QBO file over QFX or CSV, and says to download smaller date ranges for bigger uploads. Intuit's Fix bank upload errors article covers these messages:

If the bank's file won't upload at all, you have another option in QuickBooks Online that Desktop doesn't: QuickBooks Online accepts the PDF statement itself (or a JPG, PNG or HEIC image) through the same Upload from file button. It uses AI to extract the transactions and shows them side by side with the statement for review. Our PDF upload guide covers that route and how to check nothing was missed.

Intuit's fix sequence, step by step

Before you start, Intuit says to back up the company file, make sure you're on a supported Desktop version, and be signed in to your Intuit Account if you import .qbo files.

For Web Connect messages (Fix Web Connect import errors)

1. Download the file from your bank's website, not from inside QuickBooks, and make sure it's a .qbo. Import it. If it works, disconnect the account and set it up again. If the bank's site errors when you download, that's for the bank to fix.
2. Read your bank's messages. Banks post notices about changes or identity checks. If your bank no longer offers Web Connect, disconnect the account.
3. Switch to Classic mode. Banking → Bank Feeds → Change Bank Feeds Mode → Classic mode (Register mode), then import again.
4. Import into a test company. File → New Company → Express Start (add "Test" to the name) and import the same .qbo into the same kind of account. If it works there, the problem is your real file's settings: disconnect the account, reconnect it and import again. If it fails there too, the .qbo is the problem. Take your Bank Feeds logs to the bank and ask for someone who knows QuickBooks Bank Feeds. They can file a case through the Open Financial Exchange.

For OL and OLSU codes (Fix OL and OLSU Bank Feeds errors)

1. Test in a new company file: set up Bank Feeds for the problem account and download. An error there points to your bank.
2. Check that the bank's file works: download a .qbo from the bank's site and import it. QuickBooks only opens .qbo for downloaded transactions.
3. Refresh the connection. In the Chart of Accounts, tick Include Inactive and look for an inactive account with a lightning bolt. Right-click it → Edit Account → Bank Feed Settings → Deactivate All Online Services, then close and reopen the company file. When you set up Bank Feeds again, hold Ctrl each time you select a button (except while typing), which refreshes the connection with your bank.
4. Create and merge the account. Edit the account, add * to the end of its name and deactivate its online services. Then create a new account with the original name, reopen the file, remove the * and say Yes to merge. Set up Bank Feeds on the merged account. If you can't edit or merge, Intuit says the company file may be damaged.
5. Turn online banking off and on for each account, inactive ones included. One account with a bad connection can affect the others.

Collect the Bank Feeds logs

Turn logging on before you reproduce the error: Edit → Preferences → Checking → Company Preferences → Turn on Bank feeds log files. Logs go to C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Local\Intuit\QuickBooks\Log\XX.0. XX.0 is your version, and AppData is a hidden folder. For Web Connect, the logs aren't encrypted, and connlog.txt holds the connection data that may show the cause. Intuit's own note: QuickBooks is the access point, so most OL and OLSU errors get solved at the bank's end.

OL-222 on QuickBooks for Mac

Intuit's OL-222 article is written for QuickBooks for Mac. After checking you have a backup, the latest release, a supported version and a real .qbo file, the fix is to replace the financial institution list:

1. Download the new fidir.txt for your Mac version from Intuit's OL-222 article (Control-click the version link and choose Download Linked File As).
2. Delete the old fidir.txt from your QuickBooks Downloads folder under Library → Application Support, and from inside the app (Show Package Contents → Contents → Resources). Empty the Trash.
3. Put the new fidir.txt in the Resources folder and import the .qbo again.

The Mac links in that article list versions up to Mac 2023, and Mac Plus 2023 is one of the versions discontinued after May 31, 2026.

Duplicate or skipped transactions

This is where Web Connect surprises people. QuickBooks guards against duplicates by ID, not by date and amount:

• Intuit: "Every account and transaction inside of a web connect file has a unique identifier." Once transactions are added or matched, QuickBooks stores the IDs and won't import the same ID again. Repeats are ignored. On a Mac you see "Nothing imported. Account up to date."
• Intuit: you can't download transactions into the same Desktop company file more than once, and if you delete downloaded transactions you can't download them again. Your bank may be able to reopen them on its side.
• So if you deleted a bad import and the corrected file now imports nothing, the IDs are still remembered. Intuit's three fixes, in order: restore a backup from before the first import and import again; type in the few missing transactions; or (Intuit's Mac steps) set the account's online setting to Not enabled, download a new file covering only the dates you need, delete the last digit of ACCTID in a text editor and import. Intuit warns this is a one-time fix and to go carefully, because it can create duplicates.
• Duplicates in the register usually mean overlapping dates. In Register mode, match the right transactions, then delete the whole statement from Items Received From Financial Institution. If you don't, the unmatched ones keep coming back. In Side-by-Side mode, use Items to Delete → Delete Selected.
• In QuickBooks Online, Intuit lists overlapping files and adding a download instead of matching it as causes of duplicates. Excluded transactions aren't downloaded again from the bank. Prevent duplicates by importing files that start after your newest transaction.

Inside a .QBO file: a good one and a broken one

A .QBO is a plain text OFX file. Open it in Notepad or TextEdit and you'll see a header block, a sign-on section that names the bank, an account section and one <STMTTRN> per transaction. That's all you need to diagnose most of the errors above.

Good file (bank account, two transactions)

OFXHEADER:100
DATA:OFXSGML
VERSION:102
SECURITY:NONE
ENCODING:USASCII
CHARSET:1252
COMPRESSION:NONE
OLDFILEUID:NONE
NEWFILEUID:NONE

<OFX><SIGNONMSGSRSV1><SONRS><STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<DTSERVER>20261019120000<LANGUAGE>ENG
<FI><ORG>Utilly<FID>3000</FI><INTU.BID>3000
</SONRS></SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
<BANKMSGSRSV1><STMTTRNRS><TRNUID>1<STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<STMTRS><CURDEF>USD
<BANKACCTFROM>
  <BANKID>999999999<ACCTID>4821<ACCTTYPE>CHECKING</BANKACCTFROM>
<BANKTRANLIST><DTSTART>20260901<DTEND>20260930
<STMTTRN><TRNTYPE>DEBIT<DTPOSTED>20260903120000<TRNAMT>-4.50
  <FITID>2026090373A52915A16D00<NAME>STARBUCKS #12<MEMO>STARBUCKS #12</STMTTRN>
<STMTTRN><TRNTYPE>CREDIT<DTPOSTED>20260904120000<TRNAMT>2000.00
  <FITID>20260904C728C6B604EE00<NAME>ACME PAYROLL<MEMO>ACME PAYROLL</STMTTRN>
</BANKTRANLIST><LEDGERBAL><BALAMT>3120.55<DTASOF>20260930</LEDGERBAL>
</STMTRS></STMTTRNRS></BANKMSGSRSV1></OFX>

• <INTU.BID> is the bank ID that tells QuickBooks which financial institution the file claims to come from. A missing or unrecognized one is what converter makers report behind "unable to verify the Financial Institution".
• <ACCTID> is the account ID. Together with each <FITID> (transaction ID), it's how QuickBooks Desktop recognizes what it has already imported. Each real account should have its own.
• <TRNAMT>: money out is negative, money in is positive, as a plain number.
• <ACCTTYPE> (and, for a card, the CREDITCARDMSGSRSV1 section in place of BANKMSGSRSV1) should match the kind of account you import into.

Deliberately broken

(saved as statement.qfx)
...
<OFX><SIGNONMSGSRSV1><SONRS><STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<DTSERVER>20261019120000<LANGUAGE>ENG
</SONRS></SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
<BANKMSGSRSV1><STMTTRNRS><TRNUID>1<STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<STMTRS><CURDEF>USD
<BANKACCTFROM>
  <BANKID>999999999<ACCTID>0000<ACCTTYPE>CHECKING</BANKACCTFROM>
<BANKTRANLIST><DTSTART>20260901<DTEND>20260930
<STMTTRN><TRNTYPE>DEBIT<DTPOSTED>20260903120000<TRNAMT>-86.20
  <FITID>1<NAME>AT&T WIRELESS<MEMO>AT&T WIRELESS</STMTTRN>
<STMTTRN><TRNTYPE>CREDIT<DTPOSTED>20260904120000<TRNAMT>2000.00
  <FITID>1<NAME>ACME PAYROLL<MEMO>ACME PAYROLL</STMTTRN>
...

1. Saved as .qfx. Desktop's Web Connect only reads .qbo (Intuit). Get the QuickBooks option from the bank. Renaming a Quicken file isn't the same thing.
2. No <FI> or <INTU.BID> in the sign-on section. Converter makers report that a missing or unrecognized bank ID produces "unable to verify the Financial Institution".
3. A raw & in NAME ("AT&T"). In QuickBooks Community answers, Intuit support staff point to & in NAME fields as a cause of OL-222. Replace it with "and".
4. The same FITID twice (1 and 1). QuickBooks won't import a transaction ID it has already seen, so one of these can be dropped silently, and so can any transaction in a later file that reuses the ID.
5. ACCTID 0000 is a placeholder. That's fine on its own, but if two accounts' files both say 0000, QuickBooks can't tell them apart, and transactions can be skipped or land in the wrong account. Give each account its own.

What's in a Utilly .QBO file

Here's exactly what our exporter writes, and what it means for you:

• Bank ID 3000. Every Utilly .QBO says <FI><ORG>Utilly<FID>3000</FI><INTU.BID>3000. QuickBooks has no "Utilly" bank. 3000 is the generic bank ID that converters commonly use: ProperSoft documents it as its default and says it shows a Wells Fargo label, and Wells Fargo's entry in Intuit's published financial institution list is 03000. So QuickBooks Desktop may label the download Wells Fargo. The transactions still go into the QuickBooks account you choose when you import.
• We can't promise every Desktop release accepts it. Intuit doesn't publish which bank IDs it accepts in files that didn't come from your bank, and its own advice for a failing file is to download it again from the bank. If Desktop says it can't verify the financial institution, download the .IIF from the same results page instead. It has the same transactions as a local import. On Desktop 2023 after May 31, 2026, use the IIF from the start.
• One account ID per account. Bank files say <BANKID>999999999<ACCTID>4821 and card files say <ACCTID>4821, where 4821 is that account's own ID. From a PDF statement, it's the last 4 digits of the account number printed on the statement. We read only those 4 digits and never need the full number. If a statement doesn't print a number we can read, the ID is an 8-digit number made from the statement's heading, so the same account's statements get the same ID every month. In the CSV, Excel and OFX converters, you can type the account's last 4 digits or a nickname under Account last 4 or nickname (QBO). If you leave it blank, we use the last 4 digits of the account in an OFX, QFX or QBO file. Otherwise we make an 8-digit ID from the file's columns and account type. Two accounts whose exports have exactly the same columns, such as two checking accounts at one bank, would then get the same ID, so give each one its own nickname or last 4 digits. The results page shows the ID each file will use. Files we made before October 19, 2026 all said 0000, so QuickBooks may ask which account a newer file belongs to the first time you import one. Pick the same QuickBooks account you used before.
• Transaction IDs come from the transaction itself. Each <FITID> is the posting date followed by a short code made from the account ID, date, signed amount and description, plus a two-digit counter. The counter tells apart rows that are genuinely identical in one file: two $4.50 coffees at the same shop on the same day end in 00 and 01. So the same transaction gets the same ID every time it's converted, different transactions never share one, and two accounts never share one. When you import a statement that overlaps one you've already imported, Desktop skips the transactions it already has, because their IDs repeat, and it imports the new ones. This only works when the description is worded the same. A PDF statement and the bank's CSV export often word a transaction differently, so don't use both for the same dates. IDs in files made before October 19, 2026 were the date plus the row's position, so they won't match newer files. Don't re-import dates you've already brought in with an older file. In QuickBooks Online, Intuit lists overlapping files as a cause of duplicates, so upload only dates that aren't in the account yet.
• Account type. Bank files declare CHECKING. Card files use the credit-card section, so import them into a Credit Card account. If QuickBooks Online says "The uploaded file is of a different type than these accounts" when you upload a bank file into a savings account, Intuit says you can select OK to continue.
• Text and amounts. We write & as "and" and strip < and >. NAME is capped at 32 characters, with the full description in MEMO. Amounts are plain signed numbers.
• Ending balance. For PDF statements, <LEDGERBAL> is the statement's closing balance, and the transactions have already been checked against it. From the CSV and Excel converters, it's the last running balance in your file's Balance column, but only when that column matches every row (each balance equals the one before plus that row's amount, with the file sorted oldest-first or newest-first). From an OFX, QFX or QBO file, it's that file's own ending balance, with the file's own date. Otherwise, including a PDF with no closing balance we can read, it says 0.00. The field is required, and we don't make up a balance. The results page tells you which one you're getting. With 0.00, don't rely on the bank balance QuickBooks displays. Reconcile against the statement.

Pre-import checklist

1. The company file is backed up and you know how to restore it. Restoring a backup is Intuit's first fix when a Web Connect import goes wrong.
2. Your QuickBooks version still has online banking. Desktop 2023 lost it after May 31, 2026, so use IIF there.
3. On Desktop, you're signed in to your Intuit Account inside QuickBooks.
4. The file ends in .qbo (not .qfx, .ofx or .qif) and starts with OFXHEADER:100.
5. The sign-on section has <FI> and <INTU.BID>.
6. Each real account has its own <ACCTID>, and you use the same one every month.
7. There are no raw &, < or > characters in NAME or MEMO.
8. Every <FITID> is unique, and none repeat transactions you've already imported.
9. The date range starts after the newest transaction already in the account (no overlap with the bank feed).
10. The account type matches: bank file into a bank account, card file into a Credit Card account.
11. The target account isn't on Direct Connect, or you've deactivated its online services first.
12. For QuickBooks Online: 350 KB or less, 1,000 transactions or fewer, no amount with 12 or more digits, and not going into a subaccount.
13. The source ties out: opening balance + sum of transactions = closing balance. Paste the lines into the free balance checker to confirm.
14. After the import, check the first and last transactions and reconcile to the statement.

Related: import bank transactions into Desktop after bank feeds stopped, QuickBooks Desktop IIF import errors, QBO vs IIF vs QIF, and upload a PDF statement to QuickBooks Online.

Sources (Intuit help articles, read October 19, 2026): Fix Web Connect import errors (updated 8/4/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-connectivity/fix-web-connect-import-errors/L8o5eQjO4_US_en_US ; Fix OL and OLSU Bank Feeds errors in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/banking/fix-ol-olsu-bank-feeds-errors-quickbooks-desktop/L4mNsSM6O_US_en_US ; Fix error OL-222 in QuickBooks for Mac (updated 8/3/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-feeds/error-ol-222-downloading-web-connect-file-approved/L1zUJMypf_US_en_US ; Error OL-200, OL-202, OL-206, or OL-226 (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-feeds/error-ol-200-ol-202-ol-206-ol-226-last-online/L6ckP7koT_US_en_US ; Error: Nothing imported after importing a Web Connect (.qbo) file (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/banking/error-nothing-imported-importing-web-connect-qbo/L305hwiMp_US_en_US ; Download bank feed transactions in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-feeds/download-bank-feed-transactions-quickbooks-desktop/L8o0Aw9VM_US_en_US ; Set up or edit bank accounts for Bank Feeds in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-connectivity/get-started-bank-feeds-quickbooks-desktop/L5gZcG2Ql_US_en_US ; Import and export data in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/3/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/import-export-data-quickbooks-desktop/L9KS42UxP_US_en_US ; Collect Bank Feeds log files in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/security-risk/collect-bank-feeds-log-files/L4kUbp5ZZ_US_en_US ; Remove duplicate transactions in QuickBooks Desktop (updated 8/3/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/duplicate-transactions/remove-duplicate-transactions-quickbooks-desktop/L1jaKgFnS_US_en_US ; QuickBooks Desktop 2023 service discontinuation policy (updated 8/5/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/feature-preferences/quickbooks-desktop-service-discontinuation-policy/L17cXxlie_US_en_US ; Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online (updated 8/24/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/import-transactions/manually-upload-transactions-quickbooks-online/L0rE9OXBz_US_en_US ; Fix bank upload errors (updated 8/4/2026), https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-transactions/fix-bank-upload-errors-quickbooks-online/L6FBh3zDC_US_en_US ; Fix duplicate transactions in QuickBooks Online bank feeds, https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/duplicate-transactions/fix-duplicate-transactions-quickbooks-online-bank-feeds/L1fjxl88f_US_en_US . Other: QuickBooks Community answers on OL-222 and NAME characters; AutoEntry, DocuClipper and ProperSoft help pages on the bank ID behind "unable to verify"; Intuit's published financial institution list (fidir.txt). Intuit updates these pages; if a screen differs, follow the current article for your version.

FAQ

Related guides

• How to import bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop after bank feeds stopped (2026)
• How to convert a credit card statement PDF to Excel
• QBO vs IIF vs QIF: which file QuickBooks and Quicken actually need
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