Last month I mentioned that I was planning to switch from a traditional version of Quicken to one of the newer free online “financial aggregators.” The traditional software version ties you to one computer, whereas the online tools provide access via any computer. While I’m not done with my evaluation, here are a few things I’ve learned so far while checking out Mint, Geezeo, Wesabe, and Quicken Online.
First, most of these services seem to work best if your checking or savings accounts are with large financial institutions. One of our accounts is at a small bank and Quicken Online, by far, did the best job of gaining access to transactions from that bank. Mint had trouble. Even after succeeding a couple of times, I cannot gain reliable access to transactions from this bank via Mint.
This is disappointing because I really like Mint’s user interface. It gives you an instant read on how your actual spending in various categories compares with your spending targets. If your accounts are with large financial institutions you should do just fine and I think you’ll enjoy using Mint.
Geezeo has already been eliminated from consideration. It was not able to access transactions even from a big financial institution that we do business with.
A number of readers have asked about the security of these tools. I plan to address that question in the next issue of this eNewsletter, along with an evaluation of Wesabe and one more that I have put on the consideration list: Yodlee.
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