The Full Mint Review – Why It Was So Popular and What PocketGuard Offers Instead
All good things must come to an end, they say, but that common maxim was a small comfort to the millions of people who used the Mint app to budget their day-to-day expenses, but alas, no more. After going from an app with 3.6 million users in 2021 (the last time usership figures were publicly available), on March 23, 2024, it’ll be gone the way of the dodo. While it had clearly enjoyed the support of a hardcore userbase, it had been on a steady decline since a decade ago, when it enjoyed a user base of 20 million.
That’s left a lot of people without a budgeting app for their day-to-day financial transactions, a conundrum that is not easy to fix as people get very used to the apps they use on a routine basis, especially if they’ve done so for years. It doesn’t help that Mint’s parent company, Intuit, planned to migrate Mint’s users to Credit Karma, which was originally set up for credit card and loan management. For many of them, this was like trying to fit two jigsaw pieces together that didn’t match; they’ll be able to transfer their linked financial accounts, historical balances, and net worth graph; that’s all.
Mint’s former loyal users deserve better than that; they deserve to have next simple-to-use budgeting tool with customized features that they can use on a regular basis, just like before. PocketGuard is able to do everything that Mint could do plus more, but before going into detail on that, let’s review Mint in full: what it was able to offer to users, its pros and cons, the full story of its demise, and why PocketGuard is its worthy success. We’ll start with a broad overview of this once-loved budgeting app.
The Full Mint Review
How Did We Get Here?
The reasons why Mint declined as one of the most popular budgeting apps are many, but perhaps the most immediately obvious is that it was very early to the market, appearing on app stores in 2007, leaving it open to competition in later years. Two years later, it was bought from the original developers by Intuit for a record sum of $170 million when it had just over one million users, a number which was increasing by several thousand every day. By 2016, the app boasted of having 20 million registered users, but that would represent the apogee of its popularity; it was all downhill from then.
Intuit owns a wide range of financial apps and services, including Mint, and its decision to liquidate Mint in favour of its other product, Credit Karma, raised some eyebrows amongst industry experts. With over 130 million users globally, the app is obviously popular; however, its users typically use Credit Karma to monitor their credit ratings, and receive recommendations and offers for personalised loans. It is not designed to support financial decision-making or expenses budgeting, and there are no indications as of yet that Intuit will update Credit Karma to offer budgeting options.
To say that much of Mint’s userbase reacted angrily to this news would be something of an understatement, and many of them took to social media websites to voice their concerns about how they’d now manage their finances. Concern was also raised over Intuit’s business practices, as the company owns other major products like Mail Champ and Turbo Tax, the latter of which has been accused of explotiating customer data to push personalised debt products. Given that Credit Karma is specifically designed to manage products like credit cards and loans, there are fears that Intuit could do the same to Mint users once they have migrated over.
The news of the Mint app’s demise broke last October, and while the original migration deadline was set for New Year’s Day this year, there’s been a delay which has bought time for users who didn’t know which alternative to opt for. Throughout this time, Intuit has not been able to reassure them that they’d enjoy a similar customer experience with Credit Karma as they did with Mint, and judging by reddit and forum posts, Mint’s users remain unhappy. It’s a sad end for one of the most storied apps in the industry, one that originally offered some revolutionary features.
What Was Mint?
Mint was able to enjoy millions of users at the height of its success because it promised exactly what it delivered: a simple-to-use budgeting app that anyone could download and immediately manage their day-to-day expenses. When people signed up for the free-to-use service, all they would have to do to keep track of their monthly outgoings and expenses was add them to their dashboard. After that, active notifications could be configured for recurring payments, bill alerts, warnings about diminished funds, and more.
Mint would track and sort your transactions after you linked your bank accounts, and it would then give you the option to build custom categories, though you could retain Mint’s default categories. You could then customise your spending tracking by adding tags and rearranging transactions as needed. Mint was good at recognising from reviews that each individual would want to manage their money their own way, as reflected in its high level of potential customisation.
While Mint was a free app, there was an improved version called Mint Premium that costs $4.99 a month; however, this is only accessible on iOS devices. The majority of the advertisements included in the free version of the programme are absent from Mint Premium, which also includes access to Billshark—a service that could cancel unused subscriptions on your behalf—as well as some analytics tools and an export data option. The premium version also came with two games designed to teach users how to better save and spend.
Interestingly (and perhaps ironically), Mint had recently launched a free credit score tracking feature that was designed for users with a small credit card portfolio, in keeping with the app’s overall simple focus and design. This may have been an early indication that Credt Karma was soon to take over from Mint, and the feature also included some educational support about how to boost one’s credit rating.
How You Could Use the Mint App When it was Live
The Mint app worked as a fairly standard budgeting app; users would download Mint on their smartphones (iOS only if they wanted the premium plan) and then register their account. The next step was to register one’s bank accounts, credit cards, loan accounts, investment accounts, P2P payment apps, and more.
After connecting your accounts, Mint would provide you with a financial summary and recommend a customised budget based on your specific requirements. You would then be able to use the app to view incoming invoices, set notifications, analyse your spending patterns and budget, and establish financial goals.
The next step was to use Mint’s security features, which were highlighted by users on various review websites. You would start by setting up a four-digit numerical code that you’d use to sign in, and Mint would track the devices you’d have active at any given time, and regularly send codes via text or email to validate and authenticate your activity. You could remotely erase all of your account information in the event that your phone is misplaced, and your login credentials, encrypted with layers of hardware and software, would be safely kept in a different database.
As for the actual purpose of the app, you would then move onto Mint’s budgeting system, which would auto-configure with default options after it had downloaded your transaction list. Mint would also allow you to make your own subcategories, which would highlight how much you’ve spent in each category as well as if you’ve gone over or under your budget. After your transactions are downloaded, you’ll be able to make modifications to them, which, according to many reviews, was required as sometimes Mint would misplace transactions.
The Mint app didn’t just offer budgeting facilities; you could also enter and manage individual financial goals that you may have. Setting up these targets was very straightforward, and they could be linked to your monthly budgeting categories, so things like paying off debt, saving a certain amount of money, etc. would be easy. Mint also allowed you to set deadlines for your goals and recommended monthly savings amounts to help you meet them on schedule.
The Pros and Cons of Mint
The Mint app was solid and met the needs of most of its users, who just needed something that would help them control the money in their pockets and wallets. It wasn’t a particularly complex tool, and like everything, it had its pros and cons. Let’s examine these points in more detail.
The Mint App Pros
Ease of Use
Mint was easy to download and sign up for, allowing its users to start managing their finances immediately. In reviews, users would report that they saw results quickly after signing in.
Free to Use
Mint was free to use with both Android and iOS phones, which proved very popular with its customers, many of whom were taking their first step towards better financial planning.
Security
One of Mint’s best features was its high level of security, as its parent company, Intuit, uses VeriSign to send data securely. It also included multi-factor authentication for account protection.
Comprehensive Coverage
You could enter a wide range of your various bank accounts, credit cards, savings policies, investments, and other parts of your financial portfolio, and control them via the Mint app interface.
Custom Notifications
Mint allowed you to set custom notifications and alerts in addition to customised categories, allowing the user to ensure they never missed a deadline or payment.
The Mint App Cons
Intrusive Adverts
While Mint was free to use, this came at the cost of advertisements appearing in its interface. This frequently drew the ire of its users on review websites who described them as intrusive.
Miscatergorization
Mint had a strange quirk where it would frequently assign the wrong budget categories when users would upload their financial information. This was often complained about on external review websites.
Limited Investment Support
You could keep track of the amount you save to invest using Mint, but there was little to no support for directly managing your investment, a key feature other budgeting apps can offer.
Premium Access for iOS Only
While anyone could access the free Mint option, if you wanted to upgrade to the premium version, you would need to have an iOS phone only, thus excluding all Android users.
Connection Issues
Despite offering decent security, users often reported that they experienced significant connection issues with Mint, particularly while connecting with small-scale banks and services.
Mint gave its customers what they wanted: something simple that would allow them to take control of their day-to-day finances. Now that it’s gone, they have scrambled to find an alternative as they have plenty of options available on the market. There is one budgeting app, however, that has become one of the most popular alternatives to Mint, as it offers almost all of its key features and a lot more besides.
The Full PocketGuard Review
What is PocketGuard and Why Is It the Best Alternative to Mint?
PocketGuard is a relative newcomer to the market having been founded in 2015 and since then, its performance and growth have been remarkable. For now the app has helped its users save around $900 million in goals, pay off over $90 million in debt, and reduce over $40 million in bills over the past three years.
The demise of Mint has prompted PocketGuard to take action quickly and try to support the millions of the former app’s users in finding a new home, one that offers the key features that Mint offered while also expanding on them. It launched an easy and safe data transfer option that allowed users to automatically transfer their information from Mint to the PocketGuard app, section by section, minimising the migration period and its complexity. As a result, millions of users who had relied on Mint for years, sometimes for even over a decade, began choosing PocketGuard as their new budgeting home.
PocketGuard is on its way towards becoming one of the most widely used budgeting apps currently available, and the company publishes and updates a roadmap on its short- and long-term goals. A number of interesting improvements are on the horizon, including rollover budgets and customised transaction rules, which should arrive in the near future. PocketGuard is also looking into allowing its users to edit multiple transactions at once, and collaborate on one’s individual account by setting specific roles like viewer or editor, just like Google Docs.
PocketGuard’s Top Perks
PocketGuard is a great app for those looking to exercise greater control over their day-to-day finances and achieve long-term financial stability, and it comes with several top perks that have proven popular amongst reviewers. Some of them are features that are common to most budgeting apps and are honed by the PocketGuard team to greater efficacy; others make the app stand out as a unique entity. Let’s have a look at these factors in more detail as they highlight why PocketGuard has become the go-to choice for former Mint users.
Bill Payment Tracker
PocketGuard ensures you can’t overlook your expenses with its sophisticated bill tracker. The app includes automated bill reminders as standard, to keep track of your subscriptions, pay your payments on schedule, and avoid from late fines in the process. You can also keep an eye on all of your subscriptions and bills, including utilities, credit cards, and WiFi.
Budgeting
It’s easy to understand how much you can afford to spend on a purchase thanks to PocktGuard’s budgeting categories. The app will send out alerts if you spend more than 50%, 75%, or at a customized percentage to avoid running out of money. You can also analyze your past budgetary practices to learn how to control your money better and more sustainably.
Anti-Fraud Security
PocketGuard takes the security of its customers seriously and the company provides a number of safety guarantees to its customers, including some of the best cybersecurity currently available. It’s fraud prevention system publishes instant notifications about suspicious activity and can analyze your banking transactions to prevent security breaches.
Spending Insights
Sound financial management is about understanding how and why you spend and not just ring fencing the cash in your pocket. That’s why PocketGuard provides spending insights by analysing your transactions, providing information on the results, and explaining how you can adjust your spending to make it more sustainable.
Debt Payoff Plan
Unmanaged debt is the number one reason people go bankrupt in the United States, which is why PocketGuard provides a debt payoff plan as standard. It can be integrated into your various budget categories, and you can also select a financial strategy for paying off your debt that. Choose one that matches your routine spending habits and specific financial requirements.
Savings Goals
Whether your saving for a new car, to purchase a mortgage for a house, to put money in an investment portfolio or simply for a rainy day, PocketGuard will help you. The app includes a savings goals feature that makes it easy for users to put money aside for whatever they want. It’s a top perk that’s received plenty of positive reviews online.
What Are the Pros & Cons of Pocket Guard?
As you can see, the PocketGuard app has numerous pros that are not just limited to the top perks outlined above; there are many other features that make the app stand out. However, to be fair, it’s always important to highlight where a company or service can improve its product, and PocketGuard is not perfect. That’s why we’ll highlight the benefits of using the PockettGuard app, as well as the cons of doing so.
The PocketGuard App Pros
Login Security
For starters, PocketGuard includes 2FA, a four-digit PIN code, and a secure password vault as standard. This means that only you will be able to access your financial information.
Great Customer Success
PocketGuard has excellent human focused customer support, you won’t be speaking with any bots. While it had some difficulty dealing with the huge influx of Mint users, the company has now significantly increased its support capacity.
International Availability
PocketGuard isn’t just available in the United States and Canada as Mint was; you can also access your account in the United Kingdom. It’s perfect for people who travel a lot.
Custom Categories
You can set custom categories in the PocketGuard app for whatever specific needs you may have. This gives you a higher degree of financial control and freedom; in the premium version, this comes as unlimited.
Bills Renegotiation
An unusual feature of PocketGuard that’s proven popular with reviewers is that you can renegotiate some of your monthly expenses, like cellphone and energy bills, directly in the app.
Reports Generation
The PocketGuard app can automatically generate reports on your spending as well as your saving goals, which you can download to further analyze your monthly finances.
The PocketGuard App Cons
Lack of Investment Features
PocketGuard doesn’t support investing, which could be off-putting for some users. However, most reviews point out that users who want an investment management tool usually prefer separate apps.
No Multi-Currency Transactions
Unfortunately, at the moment, PocketGuard does not support multi-currency transactions, which could be off-putting to people working internationally or sending remittances abroad.
Limited Free Version
PocketGuard’s free version is basic and focus on the absolute essentials. You can’t, for example, manually add transactions, which means you’ll need to link your bank accounts.
Customization Limits
If you’re using the free version of the PocketGuard app you’ll also be limited in the amount of customization you can access. You won’t be able to create custom transaction categories or add multiple categories to a single transaction.
PocketGuard – The Best Successor to the Mint App
Mint’s demise is a shame for its millions of loyal users who stuck with the app right to the end, but that’s life; everything that has a beginning has an end, especially in the financial services industry. PocketGuard has positioned itself as a worthy successor for the storied budgeting app and has worked consistently to make its service the best for consumers. This is all the more remarkable given the difficulties many of its team members have experienced after their homeland was invaded.
It will be interesting to monitor how PocketGuard continues to update its roadmap and add new features to its app, especially now that Mint has finally gone. Its customer support team is consistent in monitoring consumer reviews and has made it clear that it wants feedback so that it can improve the company’s services.
As such, when it comes to budgeting apps, it’s very much a case of ‘the king is dead, long live the king. That new king is PocketGuard.
