I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the product team (Justin, Jason ,Val and Aaron) of Mint.com this week. It was great to meet the guys and hear from them why they love their company. I figured I’d write a bit about the product and some of my thoughts on it. But it’s one of those things you just have to try for yourself to see it in context of your own finances. It easily connects to all your bank accounts and brings the information into the application for you. **
View and tag your transactions
You can see how you’re doing in any number of customizable categories. Most of your transactions will immediately go into the right category when you add the bank account.
You can also tag transactions… for example, you might have tons of expenses for a vacation. All of those expenses fall under a variety of categories (food, lodging, gas). If you tag each individual expense with “vacation” you can analyze your spending for that particular tag.
What gives mint its soul?
The vision of the Mint.com crew is not only to create a super-easy and super-helpful finance tool, but it is to shed light on the financial industry in a way that’s never been done before.
The average consumer is getting hosed by financial institutions. Mint provides consumers with information that lets them compare their interest rates on banking and debt. The software shows you which of your bank accounts may be charging you too much in fees, high interest rates on debt and provides options that help you know where you could get a better deal.
Aaron assured me that they evaluate each provider on Mint.com based on the value they provide to the customer. For example, in my screenshot example, they wouldn’t have recommended me the HSBC account if it involved fees that would screw me over. They really do make all their decisions on what is best for the consumer, not what’s best for their own pockets.
Mint vs Quicken
If you haven’t tried Mint for your personal finances yet, you should. Check out the website hit comparison of Mint.com and Quicken (courtesy of compete.com). Mint outshines Quicken with it’s sleek interface and ever-so-easy interface. No user manuals necessary!
** One caveat… if you are Canadian, you might not find your account in their yet, but they promise you will soon!
