QuickBooks Error OLSU-1013 -- Stale Bank Feed Branding Files

Error OLSU-1013 blocks bank feed setup when QuickBooks holds outdated financial institution directory data, and our engineers resolve it by forcing a full refresh.

When QuickBooks Desktop cannot complete a bank feed connection during setup or an update, it may return error OLSU-1013. Our engineers treat this as a stale-data problem: the local financial institution directory and branding files inside QuickBooks are out of date, so the application cannot negotiate a valid connection to your bank. The resolution involves forcing QuickBooks to discard those cached files and download a fresh copy of the FI directory.

What the Error Message Says

The full on-screen message reads:

Your financial institution has rejected your request. Please try again later. (OLSU-1013)

In some installations the wording varies slightly, but the error code itself is always displayed. The message may appear when you add a new bank account to Bank Feeds, reactivate an existing connection, or update account services through the Chart of Accounts.

What the Code Means

The OLSU prefix identifies a class of online banking setup errors. The 1013 suffix specifically signals that QuickBooks attempted to read its local FI directory—the internal list of supported banks and their connection branding profiles—and found entries that are missing, corrupted, or too old to match the current server-side configuration at your financial institution. Rather than connecting with mismatched data, QuickBooks aborts the operation.

What Triggers It

Our engineers see OLSU-1013 most often in these scenarios:

1. Stale FI directory. QuickBooks downloads FI branding files on a rolling schedule. If the application has been offline or closed for an extended period, those files fall out of sync with what your bank expects.
2. Interrupted background update. A previous Bank Feeds update was cut short by a network drop, a forced QuickBooks close, or a system restart, leaving partial or corrupt branding files on disk.
3. Multiple QuickBooks editions on one machine. Having several versions installed (for example, 2021 and 2024) can cause file conflicts in the shared configuration folders where FI data lives.
4. Bank-side migration. Your financial institution changed its connection method or branding identifier, and the copy stored locally in QuickBooks has not yet caught up.

How to Fix It

Our engineers recommend working through these steps in order, starting with the most common fix.

Step 1 — Force a full FI directory refresh

1. Close QuickBooks Desktop completely.
2. Open the Windows File Explorer and enable hidden files and folders if you have not already done so.
3. Navigate to the following folder, adjusting the path for your QuickBooks version year: C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QuickBooks 20XX\Components\OLB\branding
4. Inside the branding folder, select all files and folders and delete them. Do not delete the branding folder itself—only its contents.
5. Open QuickBooks, go to the Banking menu, and select Bank Feeds > Bank Feeds Center.
6. Attempt to set up the account again. QuickBooks will rebuild the FI directory from scratch during the connection attempt.

Step 2 — Clear the FIDir cache file

If Step 1 does not resolve the error, the cached FI directory index may itself be the problem.

1. Close QuickBooks.
2. Navigate to: C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QuickBooks 20XX\Components\OLB
3. Locate the file named FIDir.txt (in some versions it appears as FIDir2.txt).
4. Rename the file to FIDir_OLD.txt.
5. Reopen QuickBooks and try the Bank Feeds setup again. A fresh copy of the directory will download automatically.

Step 3 — Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release

An outdated QuickBooks build can ship with an incompatible FI directory baseline.

1. With QuickBooks open, press F2 to open the Product Information window and note your current release number.
2. Close all company files, then go to Help > Update QuickBooks Desktop.
3. On the Options tab, select Mark All, then click Save.
4. Go to the Update Now tab, check Reset Update, and click Get Updates.
5. When the download finishes, close QuickBooks, reopen it, and accept the prompt to install the update.
6. Restart the computer, then retry the Bank Feeds connection.

Step 4 — Recreate the Bank Feeds connection from scratch

If the error persists on a single account, remove and re-add the connection.

1. Go to Lists > Chart of Accounts.
2. Right-click the affected account and select Edit Account.
3. On the Bank Feed Settings tab, click Deactivate All Online Services.
4. Save and close the account window.
5. Reopen the account, return to the Bank Feed Settings tab, and walk through the Set Up Online Services wizard from the beginning.

How to Prevent It Recurring

Our engineers recommend opening QuickBooks at least once a week and allowing it to download program updates when prompted. The FI directory refreshes in the background during normal Bank Feeds activity, so accounts that sit dormant for long stretches are the most likely to encounter stale-data errors. If you maintain multiple versions of QuickBooks on the same workstation, install each version in its own dedicated folder structure and avoid sharing configuration directories. Finally, when your bank notifies you of a platform or connection change, expect a brief window during which Bank Feeds may fail; running through Step 1 above immediately after such a notice usually prevents a full error cycle.