Mint is a free personal finance app and website that allows users to manage their money and finances all in one place. Developed by Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks and TurboTax, Mint has been one of the most popular and highly utilized budgeting and money management apps since its launch in 2006. With over 25 million users, Mint has helped people gain control of their finances by consolidating and tracking spending, creating budgets, setting savings goals, monitoring credit, and more.
One of Mint’s key features is its ability to automatically connect to almost any financial account, including bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and bills. Once connected, Mint provides a comprehensive view of a user’s finances by automatically downloading and categorizing transactions from all linked accounts. This eliminates the need for manual entry and ensures all of a user’s financial information is up to date.
Mint organizes transactions into customizable categories and allows users to tag, split, and recategorize any transaction. This helps users track exactly where their money is going. Built-in graphs and trends provide visuals for spending by category as well as cash flow over time. Users can also create budgets for any category or time period and receive alerts when they go over budget or have upcoming bills due.
In addition to tracking spending, Mint provides tools and insights to help users save money. Bill Negotiation utilizes a third party service to negotiate with cable, phone, and internet providers to lower monthly bills. The Subscription Management tool identifies recurring subscription charges and helps users identify services they may want to cancel. Users can also set any number of savings goals and Mint will calculate a recommended monthly savings amount to reach the goal by the target date.
One of Mint’s most useful features is free credit monitoring and credit score access. Users can check their credit score as often as they want through TransUnion without impacting their score. Alerts notify users of any changes to their credit report or score. Mint also provides a basic net worth tracker that tallies assets and debts.
While the core app is free, Mint has recently introduced a premium subscription service called Mint Plus. For $4.99/month, Mint Plus provides an ad-free experience, advanced analytics, and additional insight features. However, most users will find the free version has all the necessary budgeting and money management tools they need.
Mint places a strong emphasis on security. Financial data and personal information are encrypted and Mint partners with VeriSign to conduct daily scans that help ensure safe data transfer. Multi-factor authentication adds another layer of account protection. Users can also remotely wipe their data from connected mobile devices in case of loss or theft.
The Mint app and website provide an intuitive user interface combined with powerful money management features. Users praise Mint’s ease of use along with its ability to track spending and provide insights into saving money. However, some users complain that while transactions are largely automatically categorized correctly, there can be inconsistencies requiring users to re-categorize items periodically. Additionally, while infrequent, some users report sporadic connectivity issues when linking accounts.
Overall, with its focus on complete financial transparency, robust budgeting tools, and easy to use interface, Mint provides tremendous value, especially for its low cost of free. For those seeking to gain control over their finances and gain insight into their spending habits, Mint is likely one of the best personal finance apps available today.