Intuit and Mint Promise 'No Changes', But a Couple Wouldn't Hurt

When it comes to personal finance software on the Web, I like Mint - even though I was a bit concerned that the site would change after Intuit (INTU) announced the acquisition last month. But the message seems to be coming through loud and clear: Intuit has no plans to mess with Mint.

Inuit CEO Scott Cook first said it a couple of weeks ago and yesterday, Mint CEO and founder Aaron Patzer repeated it. But with a company like Intuit behind it, we should expect to see some changes. In a video with Silicon Alley Insider posted yesterday, Patzer talked about plans to grow internationally, to incorporate billpay features and, of course, work hand-in-hand with Intuit products like Turbo Tax. Expect Mint to stay free, he said.

For me, a guy with a couple of bank accounts, a car loan, some credit cards and a modest portfolio of investment accounts, Mint is a great way to keep track of life’s finances.

But it’s no checkbook register.

OK, maybe I’m a little bit old school when it comes to my accounts, but I still like to reconcile them at the end of the statement period. Yes, I sit down and compare my records to those of the bank. Nine times out of 10, if there’s a problem, it’s because I forgot to account for something or even counted a deposit twice. But, on rare occasions, I have found bank mistakes, too. In recent months, since I’ve been using Mint and allowing it to import my transactions from my bank account into the software, I’ve gotten lazy at tracking my card-swipes. I’ve started to just trust that the information that the bank is sending to Mint is accurate.

Given the state of the economy and how we got here, trusting a bank is probably the last thing I should be doing.

As a Mint user, I want to be able to input the rare paper check I might write, a swipe of the card at the gas station or even the rare in-branch deposit. Today, I can’t do that - but I’m hoping that parent company Intuit takes some of the basic banking features from Quicken (such as manual importing of transactions) and incorporate them into Mint.

In my eyes, that’s not a case of Intuit changing something that’s already good. In this case, Intuit would be making it better.

Comments

[Gaeilla:]

Sam: You said, "Nine times out of 10, if there’s a problem, it’s because I forgot to account for something or even counted a deposit twice." If Mint allowed you to "input the rare paper check" or "swipe of the card at the gas station" you would be creating one of those problems. Mint is showing you your bank statement. When reconciling, you do not ADD things to your bank statement -- you MATCH the bank statement to the records you've been keeping by hand or in accounting software. I am a Full Charge Bookkeeper with 30+ years experience. Mint could use a few little tweeks, but letting you add or subtract transactions from your bank statement should NOT be among them.

You're right, banks can and do make errors, but in general, bank errors are (bank) fees that need to be disputed. Mint can be used to spot those disputable charges early -- before the bank statement you are going to reconcile at end of month shows up in the mail or online.

I'm not picking on you, but I can't tell you how many of my really smart, successfull, entrepreneurial clients never learned how to reconcile a bank statement. In this day and age of debit cards, it's gotten much worse. In my opinion, everyone under the age of 40 should use something like Mint every day to keep track of their money.

Oct 21 12:23 AM

[Reg:]

I've used Quicken for over 20 years. And I've been doing accounting for over 30 years. I'm a big fan of reconciling accounts monthly. The word reconcile is derived from the Latin meaning "to make agree". And in the reconciliation process, the date that you are comparing is important.

My question to you is "Who is leading your finances - you or the bank?" When you stop at letting your balance reflect only the downloaded transactions, you are letting the bank lead. While the download is a timesaving feature, when you stop there, you are giving up your accountability.

Banks do make errors, and not just in bank fees. I've see $5 checks clear for $500. Or data entry on the bank side that transposes check amounts. You write a check for $525 and it clears for $252. In that case, the bank is most likely losing.

I suspect Intuit will enhance Mint.com to give users the ability to input. And I, too, hope more individuals will improve their financial management habits. Tools like Quicken and Mint.com help.

Nov 01 08:38 AM