Mint.com is a site that aggregates your financial transactions and then analyzes it. Think of it as a Quicken or Microsoft Money online. I see three huge advantages of Mint.com
1.) Easily connects to your existing bank/credit card accounts. This makes set up very fast and easy. No need to break out your account number or routing number. Mint.com seems to have deals with financial institutions to link in securely to their servers
2.) Mint.com analyzes your spending. Much like Microsoft Money (I haven't used Quicken), there are charts that show how much of a dumb ass you really are by spending way too much money on alcohol and eating out. Taking this a step further, Mint.com suggests where you can save money.
3.) It's free
Besides the advantages, a feature i personally really like is the e-mail once a week letting me what I have spent and when my bills are do. This sames me from logging into my bank/credit card accounts to see the status of my finances.
The biggest concern is privacy (see this http://www.nobosh.com/Article/Mint.com-%2D-Is-it-Safe%3F/712/). Do you really want to give all your financial information to Mint.com? Mint.com is collecting and storing all your banking information. They say they know nothing about you (Name, Address, SSN) just about bank accounts. See the statement by Aaron Patzer the Founder & CEO, Mint.com below.
I would highly recommend Mint.com, but to many the thought of one place storing your financial information may be too great to use/try the service.
From: Aaron on the comments off TechCrunch
"To all those who are concerned over Mint.com security, a few points:
1) You’re anonymous on Mint.com
2) Our security is independently verified
3) Email & text-message alerts help identify fraud immediately…and being proactive is the best measure.
I’ll make a bold statement: You’re safer on Mint then with online banking. On Mint, you’re completely anonymous. We never ask for a name, address, or SSN - just an email. We know about your finances…but not about you. We’re also independently verified by Verisign, TrustE, and several outside agencies.
We also have serious physical security. Our servers are in a secure, unmarked facility. To get in, you need to pass 3 biometric scanners, 4 locked doors, and several guards. We have our own cage so we’re physically separated from all other companies. Cameras monitor our servers and power supplies 24/7. The servers themselves have additional locks. The hard drives are encrypted. It’s like Mission Impossible (except without the electrified floors…maybe one day).
Perhaps more interestingly, 90% of all fraud actually occurs offline, not online (e.g. someone swipes your card at a restaurant or from your mail). Because Mint sends proactive alerts for low-balance or unusually high spending, you’ll know right away. It’s better than logging into 4-5 different banks every day, or waiting 30 days for a paper statement before finding that something went wrong.
Aaron Patzer
Founder & CEO, Mint.com"
