Webware

Conventional wisdom is that Intuit's acquisition of the personal finance Web service Mint will mean the end of the line for the company's standalone software app, Quicken. Upstart Mint, which is being acquired by Intuit for $170 million, has a personal finance product more in line with the times, with a younger demographic, a working business model, and a passionate CEO, Aaron Patzer, who's slated to take over the Quicken product line at Intuit once the acquisition closes. It doesn't look good for the old desktop app, Quicken.

It's a shame that we think of Quicken that way, but it's Intuit's own fault that we've gotten here. The product, according to Intuit legend, started at founder Scott Cook's kitchen table in 1983 as he watched his wife struggle with paying bills. The original Quicken, little more than an DOS-based checkbook and register, over time became an ambitious personal finance suite that handled budgeting, retirement planning, loans, public equities and employee stock options. It became more capable but also more complex, harder to use, and much harder to get started with.

Mint got access to investment data a year ago.

(Credit: Mint.)

More importantly, as Julie Miller, director of corporate communications for the consumer group at Intuit told me, "Quicken made its way through the organization. We shuffled the Quicken business around. That had a direct effect on the quality of the product." You can see the effect on CNET's own reviews. Users hate Quicken. Few products have user reviews scores as low: none of the variations of of Quicken from recent years have user reviews garnering more than 1 and a half stars out of 5. (Our official reviews score the products higher.)

Another reason that Quicken suffered: Intuit shifted its focus away from the flagship product to new moneymakers, in particular its small-business product, QuickBooks, and its tax software and service, TurboTax. As Miller says, "There were decisions made over time that had the unintended consequence of putting the Quicken business where it was starved for focus and resources."

Finally, though, the light began to dawn at Intuit. Miller: "Our thinking was too limited. We weren't thinking beyond the desktop solution. The way we grow this, we realized, was to look for acquisitions."

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This week, I'm joined by CNET security expert Elinor Mills in a discussion with Mint CEO Aaron Patzer, whose personal finance site is being acquired by Intuit. We grill Patzer on why he sold the company, the future of Quicken, and the security of online financial data.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

I really enjoyed recording this podcast. We had the start-up CEO of the moment in to talk about why he sold his personal finance company, Mint, to Intuit--the company he built Mint to compete with in the first place.

Also, Elinor grills Patzer on the security safeguards in his system. Patzer tells us getting access to Mint data is like initiating self-destruct on the Starship Enterprise: You need three people to give their individual passwords at the same time or no go. Play the podcast for the full content, and for our show notes, including some bonus content from a post-show discussion, keep reading.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

It took a little while, but an update for Mint.com for iPhone brings the financial monitoring app in line with iPhone's 3.0 features, including push notification for the notable financial events you designate online. Push notifications will appear automatically, in the same way you would get an alert via Mint.com when you go over budget or when the bank charges a fee.

While a perk, other enhancements will prove more significant to frequent users, like editing transaction details instead of just viewing them. This includes assigning a spending category from the iPhone, tagging a transaction, and adding notes.

The update also opens up Mint's recently added online budgeting tools to read-only access from the iPhone. You'll be able to drill down a few layers to view activities in your budget categories, and individual transactions. The description view is where you're able to add those tags and notes.

The last major feature addresses security by instituting an optional four-digit passcode you'll need to enter each time you open or refresh Mint.com on iPhone. Mint will also now log you off when you receive a call or text. If you're frequently interrupted, reentering the passcode grows old fast, but it's worth it to keep your budget, bank balances, and investments for your eyes only.

The editing features give Mint greater value, though your management options from the iPhone are still limited in this release. You can't add a budget or an account, for instance.

Related story: Mint.com brings personal finance to the iPhone

Financial software maker Intuit has signed an agreement to acquire personal finance service Mint.com for $170 million.

"With this transaction, Intuit will gain another fast-growing consumer brand and a highly successful Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that helps people save and make money," Intuit CEO Brad Smith said in a statement Monday. "This move will enhance Intuit's position as a leading provider of consumer SaaS offerings that connect customers across desktop, online and mobile."

TechCrunch reported the deal Sunday night, citing unnamed sources.

Mint, a start-up launched two years ago that tracks personal finance data, became a CNET Webware 100 winner in 2008 and again in 2009. It was also the 2007 winner of the TechCrunch50, which kicks off once again Monday in San Francisco.

Mint's features have apparently helped it attract a younger, more diverse demographic than Intuit's Quicken Online. Mint founder and CEO Aaron Patzer told CNET News last year that 40 percent of his company's users are women. He claimed Quicken's demographic was still "85 percent men." Assuming that's true, it would appear that Intuit can significantly expand its base with the Mint acquisition.

When the deal is made final, Mountain View, Calif.-based Mint will become part of Intuit's Consumer Group, which includes both Quicken and TurboTax. Patzer will become general manager of Intuit's Personal Finance group.

Although Mint and Intuit's Quicken Online are direct competitors, Intuit said it plans to maintain both products. According to Intuit, they serve "separate and equally important purposes."

The acquisition is expected to become final in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory review.

Mint.com is the premiere web-based money management solution available Tuesday. The site pulls transaction information from your various financial accounts and presents the data in a beautiful, easily digestible format. CEO Aaron Patzer boasts that 50 percent of Mint's users have used the service to stick to a budget for the first time in their lives. Hoping to raise that number even more, its latest update, available now, focuses on making it easier for users to control their spending with advanced budgeting tools.

While Mint already had some budgeting features before the new update, it was mostly simplistic and offered little in the way of customization options. Features found in this update include the ability to set up and manage specific budgets for categories of purchases, monitor the overall effects of budget changes, budget for specific expenses (such as taxes), and track all of these budgets in real time. Users are now also able to distinguish between personal and business accounts to help separate their associated expenses. Finally, in typical Mint fashion, it has added a great looking graph visualization of your net income, broken down by month.

Mint's new net income visualization.

(Credit: Mint)

With this update, Mint is also pushing its users to transfer their dormant 401k accounts in to rollover IRAs through its "Ways to Save" feature, claiming that the action will result in an additional $65,000 in savings (on average) when retirement rolls around. While Mint's intent with Ways to Save appears to be genuine, be sure to properly evaluate and investigate these offers before signing up. Mint's main revenue stream comes from affiliate fees garnered from its users signing up for these offers.

These new features are certainly a welcome addition to Mint's already strong offering. Bringing responsible money management to users is an admirable goal, especially in this economy. Mint's new budgeting features should help to show even more people the way.

Mint's new budgeting feature allows users to break down expenses by category.

(Credit: Mint)

Mint.com is launching a new tool on Tuesday that's makes tracking personal finances more fun. The service now rewards you for things you're doing to keep your "financial fitness" in check in the same way gamers get achievements in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games.

Each time you save more money than you spend, avoid bank fees, or come in under budget, it nets you a certain number of Mint points that go toward your total financial score. The goal is to realize the things you're doing right or wrong, and use that information to attain the most points possible each month and compete with others on the service. While it won't show you specific user data it will give you a general idea of how you stack up.

Mint.com will be attributing points to user actions and putting them toward monthly goals.

(Credit: Mint.com )

Along with each goal, the service explains the benefits and follow-through of each action, and in some cases the means to get it done. For instance, if it thinks you can save more money by switching to a specific credit card or savings account it will tell you how to do it and let you make that switch right on the site. The service did this before, but now it's tied to an actionable item where the user will receive an immediate benefit. Users are also rewarded for continuing to do certain goals month over month with collectible badges.

Thrive, another competing personal finance site, also does this tracking method and tells you how "healthy" your finances are on a scale of 1-10. However it doesn't have a points system, or a long-term track of your achievements--something Mint is hoping users will get instantly thanks to experiencing the same thing in modern day games.

Each month Mint will break down points by goal and let you see how far along you are.

(Credit: Mint.com)

The new program is a limited, invite-only beta, but we've got 500 invites set aside for CNET readers. If you're a Mint.com user who is interested in trying it out you can send an e-mail to CNET-getfit@mint.com with the e-mail address you have registered with Mint.com in the e-mail's body.

St. Patrick's Day is a popular day for "celebrations" and realizing that, Boost Mobile has those who want to party covered. According to the company, it will offer the #TAXI feature on all Boost Mobile phones free of charge on St. Patrick's Day. Upon dialing #-8-2-9-4, Boost Mobile users will be connected automatically to the first available cab company in their area. The feature will work in over 2,000 Boost Mobile network coverage areas. The service will only be free Tuesday.

Mint.com, an online personal finance service, announced Monday that it added its 1 millionth user Sunday. According to the company, it was able to add 1 million users in just 18 months, making it the first personal finance service to add that many users in the period. Mint is now tracking over $50 billion in transactions and $15 billion in assets.

Visual search company, Quintura, announced Monday that it has secured context-based search visualization patents to ensure it has the most "interactive" search service on the Web. The company hopes that it will be the competitive advantage it needs going forward.

TweetDeck, a desktop Twitter app, has launched version 0.24, which includes "the first elements of Facebook integration." According to the company, users will be able to see friend status updates, which are updated automatically each month and they will also be able to post messages to Twitter or Facebook within the Tweet window. The release isn't available for everyone, but it will be rolled out once it's tested. So far, there is no timetable for that release.

People search site, 123people, has expanded into new markets, including Switzerland, France, and Spain. It's now also available in six languages, including, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan. The new versions of the site are available now.

Managing your money online has become much easier with the help of services that monitor your bank accounts and other financial information. I've found five sites that do a fine job of providing information and data to help you make more informed financial decisions.

Buxfer

Buxfer offers a simple tool for managing your money online. And since it lacks in-depth assessment into your financial health, it's great for beginners.

Buxfer allows you to link your credit card and bank accounts to the site. If they belong to a major institution like Bank of America, the site asks you if you want it to synchronize the accounts for you. If so, it will then ask you to input your bank username and password and indicate how often Buxfer should synchronize.

Where Buxfer really shines is in its simplicity. The service features easy-to-understand tabs that provide step-by-step instructions on how to add accounts, see reports, and create budgets. In fact, creating accounts and budgets takes just a few minutes to complete. That said, Buxfer's reports leave much to be desired and they generally tend to offer simple information--revenue, expenses, and balances--instead of more important data like estimates and projections. I should note that projections are available, but only in the premium version of the service.

Buxfer is simple and responsive. If you're looking for something basic, it's a great place to start.

Geezeo

If you want some extra help beyond tracking your financial information, Geezeo does a fine job. But much like Buxfer, it fails to provide extensive data to keep you exceptionally informed.

Geezeo is easy to use, which makes it appealing to beginners. After signing up for an account, users can add bank account information, as well as credit cards, loans, and investments. Geezeo will track all the changes in those accounts once added. Armed with that information, Geezeo creates a budget for you and sets goals to see how well you're managing your money. The site also generates reports to help you see where you stand financially. But much like Buxfer, those reports are too simple to offer in-depth and most importantly, actionable information.

But it's Geezeo's community that the company touts. Aside from providing financial information, Geezeo lets you connect with other users and ask them for financial advice. Users can also create groups where like-minded individuals can discuss financial goals, and for harder questions you can ask Geezeo "Experts" for help. Most of the time, those tips are generic, though.

Geezeo is a fine service if you want to connect with others during your financial planning. And since it's free, it's probably worth trying for a little while, at least.

Mint

Mint is a fine service that takes aim at Quicken Online. But unlike Quicken, it doesn't provide the kind of depth that you would expect from a full-featured money management tool.

Similar to its competitors, Mint allows you to input account and credit card information, as well as create a personal budget and manage investments. Its core function is to look at your spending habits and recommend offers that will help you save money. If you have a high-interest credit card, or you're spending too much on a bill, Mint's advertising network will find offers from partners and suggest you sign-up for the respective service. If you do, Mint gets a small portion of the revenue generated from that switch.

Mint will automatically capture financial information from more than 3,500 financial institutions, which makes it a handy tool to keep your accounts up to date. And just like its competitors, it can send alerts to your mobile phone to tell you when to pay a bill. That said, Mint requires you to give it your account information to track your financial data. Although it's a trustworthy site, I just can't bring myself to entrust that information to a small firm.

Quicken Online

Like Mint, Quicken Online is targeted at those who don't require complex financial tracking services. That said, Quicken Online will still do some heavy lifting and it does a fine job of monitoring and forecasting your financial picture.

Forecasting is Quicken Online's most compelling feature. On the service's main page, it shows what's left in your bank account, your risk of overdraft, your risk of a low balance, and the expected spending you will incur in the next 30 days. It derives that forecast from your bank accounts, investments, and other financial data. As long as all that information is accurate, Quicken will probably be right most of the time.

Quicken Online boasts a "Where am I spending?" page, which files all your spending into different categories, like groceries and electronics, to give you a full view of where your money is going. It then allows you to set goals to see if you can rein in spending.

Although Quicken Online is the most capable finance tracking software I used, it's not nearly as powerful as its desktop counterpart, and real power users probably won't find enough value to justify using it. But for the average person who has a mortgage, an investment account, and a couple bank accounts, it's worth using. Especially now that it's free.

Wesabe

Much like Geezeo, Wesabe employs the wisdom of its community to help you monitor spending and get advice on how to pay off debt sooner, while saving more money.

Just like the competing services, Wesabe lets you drop in your bank information, then starts tracking that data. It examines how you spend your money and helps identify areas where you could tighten your belt by providing tips from its community. For example, when Wesabe recognizes when you purchase groceries, it provides you with a list of tips from other users on how to save money for your next trip to the store. It also finds ways to pay off debt sooner by looking, once again, toward the community for help.

Unfortunately, Wesabe doesn't offer much more than that. It provides basic goals and tips wherever you turn, but if you want investment advice or more capable financial monitoring it's not ideal. Wesabe is aimed more at the beginner than anyone else.

Mint.com released a new and free iPhone application early Monday. Similar to PageOnce's mobile efforts, Mint's lets you monitor your credit card and bank accounts from your phone. It also throws in things like your monthly budget, incoming cash flow and expenses, along with any investment accounts you have synced up to Mint.com.

For security, Mint seems to have taken a page from PageOnce in letting you enable or disable mobile access from Mint.com. If your phone gets lost or stolen, you can simply cut off its access to your account, keeping any would-be identity thieves from taking a look at past purchases, or getting an idea of your net worth. It doesn't show any of your account numbers, or even let you add new accounts from your mobile device (which PageOnce does), but can be a treasure trove of information in the wrong hands.

Another thing worth noting about security is that if you don't have your iPhone passlock-protected, anyone can fire up the application and see the dollar value of each of your accounts. I'm a little surprised Mint hasn't placed its own special passcode security system for those first using this app, or even provided the option to require a password between sessions. The best you can do is simply log off in between use, but that's not a good long-term solution.

Security issues aside, it's a good first start for Mint, and for regular Mint users this is yet another way to get at things like your budget and accounts without having to rely on your bank offering a site that can be accessed on mobile devices. The alerts are also very handy and can tell you if a credit card bill is close to being due, if you're spending more than usual, or if there have been large deposits or withdrawals into your various accounts. For those things alone, it's worth downloading the app, just be sure to flip on your iPhone's built-in security lock feature.

Mint's iPhone app lets you check out bank accounts, credit cards and monthly budgets.

(Credit: Mint.com)