Mint Review: Is It Legit Or Scam?

Mint is the perfect solution for anyone who wants to take control of their finances. With its simple interface and powerful financial tools, it’s no wonder that it has won multiple Editors’ Choice awards. You can connect all your online investment accounts, check your credit score, get a reasonable estimate of your net worth, and much more – all free. The only way that Mint makes money is by displaying targeted ads for credit cards and other financial products.

Mint’s developers constantly work to improve the user experience by leveraging machine-learning technology (AI). The latest user interface redesign is intended to make navigation and usability more responsive. However, the new design is less effective than the old one, so Mint’s score has dropped from 5 out of 5 to 4.5. Despite this, the mobile Mint app continues to be exceptional. Everything that has made Mint a PCMag Editors’ Choice winner for many years is still present today.

What is the process for setting up a Mint account?

Mint is a well-rounded and free personal finance service for getting a picture of your fiscal health, also, the site helps you manage your finances by tracking your spending and income. It offers a feature tour when you create your account, which introduces you to the different features of the site. One of the main features of Mint is connecting to your bank, credit card, and other financial accounts so it can pull transaction data. This allows you to see where and when you spent or earned money. The site is useless without this data, so connecting your accounts is essential. That said, you can manually enter transactions as well, which is helpful if you receive cash and spend it without putting it into an account.

Mint provides various features that can be customized to meet your specific needs. To access these features, click on the Settings links in the left vertical toolbar. You can enter your demographic information here to help Mint target your ads more effectively. You can also view all your bank accounts, turn features on or off, and complete other setup tasks. The most important task is setting up Notifications. Click on it to choose whether or not you want to receive email and on-site updates about things like financial product offer and changes to your credit score. You can also ask to be notified when your account balances drop below a certain level or credit availability dips below a specified dollar amount.

How safe is Mint to use?

Mint uses bank-grade security. According to the company, “Your login username and passwords are stored securely in a separate database using multi-layered hardware and software encryption. We only store the information needed to save you the trouble of manually updating, syncing, or uploading financial information.” This means that even they don’t have access to what you type when you connect your accounts- ensuring peace of mind for users.

Mint is a secure site that uses measures like VeriSign security scanning and multi-factor authentication to protect your account. You can’t initiate transfers of money or payouts on the site, which helps to keep your information safe.

Do you need to connect all your accounts?

The amount of information you allow Mint to track is entirely up to you with their free credit monitoring. You can connect to as many accounts as you like for a comprehensive picture of your finances, or you can choose only to include certain charges. You can also add the value of assets such as properties and vehicles. Mint links to third-party sites to get estimates of their value.

Near-Instant Insights

You can see your spending habits and trends by setting up an account with Mint using their free credit monitoring. Mint pulls data from the past few months to provide insightful information about your financial health. You can see exactly where your money has been going and make changes accordingly.

Mint’s ability to automatically import and use historical data gives you a big head start in visualizing your finances. Other services may offer instant feedback based on past transactions. Still, only Quicken’s Simplify can match Mint’s level of detail and usability.

Insights within minutes

Mint has always been a go-to for an easily navigable and attractive website. However, as the site has grown, it has become more challenging to maintain that same quality in design and accessibility. As a result, users may need help finding what they’re looking for or understanding what the page is about.

Mint’s new dashboard is a significant improvement from last year. It’s more spacious and easier to navigate. However, it still feels like too much data on one screen. Hopefully, they’ll continue to make improvements in this area.

While some dashboards can be overwhelming and challenging to navigate, Simplifi has done an excellent job of making theirs visually appealing and easy to use. From start to finish, their website is well-designed and thought-out. Content is enclosed in tidy boxes with clever use of color and graphics to add interest. Scrolling is minimal, so you can always see what’s most important. This makes for a much more polished and professional experience overall.

Intuit TurboTax and Mint have partnered to make filing your taxes more accessible than ever. With the new Tax Hub feature on Mint, you can import up to three years of tax returns and track your refund and filing status. The left vertical pane on the Overview page is your navigation toolbar, containing links to different areas of the site that show various aspects of your finances, such as Transactions, Credit Score, Trends, and the Tax Hub. On the Overview page, you also see a list of all your financial accounts and assets, their total values, and your net worth. A couple of charts highlight Cash vs. Credit Card Debt and Net Income over the previous six months.

In addition to an overall view of your finances, the “Budget” tab on Mint.com also shows you a list of upcoming bills, a spending chart, your current credit score, and a table detailing what you’ve spent in individual budgeted categories and how much you have left. 

What is the transaction process at Mint?

The Transactions page is the most critical part of Mint. This is where all the data from your cash and credit accounts appears. The entries are displayed in a checkbook register format, with each transaction’s date, description, category, and amount. Mint does a good job guessing the class for each transaction, but occasionally it needs to be changed. Subcategories can be edited, but not the main types.

Working with transactions in Mint is easy. Click “Edit” at the end of the row you wish to alter. This allows you to assign tags (e.g., Tax-Related or Vacation), split the transaction between multiple categories, mark it as duplicates, and add notes. While Mint app transaction management tools are good overall, they lack some of the detail present in other budgeting apps.

Mint automatically pulls your credit score from TransUnion if you entered your Social Security Number during setup. It shows it to you on the Overview page and under the Credit Score link in the toolbar. This way, you can stay on top of your credit score and see the factors that influence it. You can use Credit Karma (free) for a full credit report.

Can Mint track bills?

Mint used to offer a bill-paying service, but it was discontinued a few years ago. However, you can still pay bills through Quicken Deluxe for an additional fee. In Mint, you can schedule and track bills in one of two ways. You can connect to your billers’ sites by entering your username and password, which will pull the payment amount and due date. However, you will have to make the payment outside of Mint. Once you’ve done that, you can click “Mark as Paid” and view your payment history with the vendor. The second option is to manually add bills that aren’t linked to a biller’s site. Either way, bill reminders appear on the dashboard.

Mint is now partnering with Billshark to offer a new service that can help you save money on your bills. With this service, there is no charge to you unless Billshark successfully negotiates a lower bill on your behalf – and even then, you’ll still get the majority of the savings, with 60% going to you and 40% to them.

Budgeting Your Money

Budgeting can be difficult and time-consuming, mainly when predicting future spending in specific categories. The Mint budgeting app simplifies the process by categorizing your transactions and presenting them in an easy-to-understand format. This way, you can see where you have spent money in the past and create budgets based on that budgeting app information. The first time you select Budgets (assuming you’ve imported transactions and categorized them), the Mint budgeting app will have already started your budgets. You can edit budget categories and add your own as needed.

A budget is often thought of as a large spreadsheet. The Mint budgeting app refers to each category as a budget, represented by a colored vertical line (green for good, red for bad). This shows the budgeted amount compared to what has been spent (or received) by filling in the line proportionately and displaying the actual numbers (like $185 of $200 spent). The Edit button from the budgeting app can be clicked to increase or decrease the budgeted amount by entering a number or changing an existing one. You can also specify whether you want the budget to occur once, every month, or every few months.

Can Mint Help You Set Financial Goals?

Mint wants to help you achieve your financial goals, whether saving for a vacation, buying a house, or paying off debt. Their intelligent, multistep calculators will create a plan tailored to your needs and budget. You can link it to an existing account or open a new one. 

What About Tracking Investments?

Mint’s investment section is one of its least interactive and informative areas. However, it still provides valuable information for those who are not day traders. You can connect your brokerage accounts and view your balances, which Mint updates with current prices. Considering your holdings by highest value, best performers, and worst performers is also an option. Charts ranging from five days to one year for market indexes or stocks can be accessed, as well as data on your portfolio’s performance, allocation, and value.

How Do You Know How Your Finances Are Doing?

Setting financial goals and tracking your progress can be rewarding in more ways than one. In addition to gaining valuable insights into your spending and income, you’ll also see your progress through various charts and graphs. Just click on “Trends” to access all this information.

Mint’s Reports page is a great way to get insights into your spending and saving habits. You can filter the data with a few clicks to see how your budget is stacked against last year or the previous month. And for even more detailed analysis, Mint lets you export the underlying data in CSV format.

Why Does Mint Have So Many Ads?

Mint offers a free budgeting app online service that helps you manage your finances by giving insights into your spending habits and suggesting ways to save money. One of the ways it does this is through targeted advertising. Based on the information you input about your financial accounts and annual fees, the site shows you ads for banks and funds that could give you a better interest rate. It also shows how much money you could save over time with these different options. This way, you can make informed decisions about where to put your money for the best return.

Like its competitors, Mint accepts compensation from financial institutions that may impact the order in which their financial products appear or where they’re placed on the site. This doesn’t mean that Mint’s ads are always the best available offers, but they are still worth considering.

 Mint’s Mobile Apps

Gone are the days when checking your bank balance meant lugging around a paper statement or calculator. Mint’s mobile app allows you to check your finances anytime, anywhere. The Android and iPhone versions of the app are nearly identical, making it easy to track your accounts, transactions, and budgets no matter which device you’re using. Plus, you can set up alerts and view a truncated version of Trends. And for even more financial peace of mind, the mobile app also lets you track investment transactions, goals, and bills.

You’ll be taken to the Overview page when you first log into the app. You’ll see your credit score in small print in the top left corner. Click on it to get a breakdown of the elements that make up your score and how well you’re doing with each one. Below your credit score are tabs for various aspects of your finances, including Net Worth, Spending, Cash, Investments, Credit Cards, and Loans.

Additionally, the icons along the bottom of the screen provide access to Notifications, the Marketplace, and the Monthly view. The Monthly icon displays your budget, cash flow, financial goals, spending targets, and other details for the current month. A chart also breaks down spending into transactions, categories, and merchants.

There’s a lot of crucial financial information on this screen. At a glance, you can see which bills are pending and see a list of your recurring monthly subscriptions. This is also where you can set spending targets in different categories based on your recent spending. With everything that’s going on with COVID-19, the app’s financial guide can be beneficial. It has articles about how the pandemic might affect your finances and what steps to take next.

The team at Mint has livened things up by incorporating sound and animation into their mobile apps. With just a few taps, you can get a fun and engaging overview of your financial situation from the previous month. For example, your spending totals appear as bouncing bubbles on the screen. It’s a helpful compilation presented in an imaginative way that is sure to please. In addition, the Notifications screen keeps you abreast of important account information, overdue bills, and high spending in specific areas. 

Mint’s mobile app is a great way to keep track of your finances when you’re away from home or the office. The data on your Mint mobile app is wiped every time you sign out, so you can be sure that your information is safe and secure.

Mint Condition

As we all face uncertain times financially, it has become more critical than ever to keep track of our money. Mint provides an easy-to-use interface like no others budgeting apps with creative data presentation and tools, intelligent personal finance features, and guidance. This makes it the best free budgeting app choice for anyone wanting to manage their income, spending, budgeting, savings goals, and investments. Knowing where we stand financially allows us to take positive steps forward into the future.