Mint.com…maybe later

mint logo

Virtually everyone has a bank account, most people have online access, but very few have an online personal finance service. Mint.com offers a free, virtually automatic, online money management and budgeting product. The key to their current success is the ability to import transaction information directly from bank, mortgage and credit card accounts. With the imported data, alerts on low balances, upcoming bills, personalised suggestions and comparisons to the general populous(see Figure1) are functions created.

mint statistics

Figure 1. Comparative Spending Patterns

Favourable product reviews have assisted participation(Walkenhorst,2009), while a second round of venture funding of $12million has allowed a significant marketing budget to try and increase rapid uptake of the product.

“Most people don’t know what they spend in every single area, but they know they have a problem in particular areas,” said Aaron Patzer(2009), the founder and chief executive of Mint(see Figure 2.) Patented best practice (Miller, 2008) Algorithmic functions allow spending pattern comparison and analysis. The financial model involves targeted ads personalised for each user. Mint claims that 12% to 15% of ads get clicks, versus 0.2% for standard online banners. The average saving per ad click is $50 indicating that the long tail, Third-Party Supported business plan if successful, can be extremely profitable(Anderson,2009). Supported tools (Walkenhorst,2009) such as Google analytics, php and Apache software enhance integration and reliability.

mint layout

Figure 2. Summary of Expenses

Its competitors include Wesabe, another relatively new (and free) service, and the online version of Quicken, which costs a $4 a month. Geezeo and Rudder like Wesabe have experienced issues accessing Amex data, while Quicken’s offline performance is not matched in its online functionality currently. Reliability, consistency and security are prerequisites in this niche market. Online aggregating and budgeting collaborations, such as that between Bank of America and Quicken (Miller, 2008) pose future threats. Interestingly Geezeo and Wesabe have also attempted to integrate social networking, offering the ability to share financial woes with their own demographic!

Fear, the power of the larger Banks, and the time honoured Cash transaction will ensure that Mint will remain an area of the long tail for a while yet. For me, I’ll wait and see what happens if the capital drys up!