Last week, in a weirdly confusing yet optimistic press release, we heard that OG budgeting app Mint was shutting down and directing its customers to Intuit’s similar service, Credit Karma.
To some, it may have come as quite a surprise. For at least a decade, Mint, launched in 2006, reported that its user base was only growing. In 2016, the company said it had over 20 million users.
However, others say the only surprise comes in Intuit’s reluctance to push the app past its “Personal Financial Management” scope into “Personal Financial Performance Management”
The difference? Mint customers could track their finances. Others in the PFM space that show continued success impact their customers’ finances.
Mint’s demise, therefore, may serve as a warning to others. PFM has evolved past plain budgeting.
While customers are still looking to “take control” of their finances, they are turning towards apps that help them actively engage. (What use is knowing that I routinely spend hundreds on something if I don’t know the other options?)
Personalization, AI, and Open Finance may all be poised perfectly to feed into this evolution.
FEATURED
The Demise Of Intuit Mint And Personal Financial Management
By Ron Shevlin, Senior Contributor
The shutdown of Mint offers lessons to Credit Karma—as well as to banks—on what consumers really value and what they’re willing to pay for.
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