How The Internet Is Changing Personal Finance
Posted January 26th, 2010
There have been a lot of changes recently with personal finance programs improving online, and now anyone can make use of them. This article will explain how the Internet has been changing the way people deal with their personal finances.
Personal finance tools used to be desktop applications that required a lot of manual input by the user. It was quite difficult to get in touch with the bank, and to keep track of credit card spending you had to wait for your statement.
New software tools have made it easier for anyone to keep track of their personal finances online with companies such as Quicken Online and Mint.
Mint for personal finance:
There are two online tools used for the management of personal finance more than any others. They are Quicken Online and Mint.
Mint became an early favorite because it was simple to monitor all of your expenses. It is still simple to use, and once you have given Mint access to your credit card and bank account, your financial information is downloaded and organized at regular intervals.
It was launched in 2007 and gained popularity very quickly. One step above its competitors that were using a desktop version, Mint was able to communicate to every credit card issuer and bank right from the beginning. In October 2008 it came out of beta.
The numbers have been staggering with this company. Over 30,000 new users were signed up weekly in October 2009. It has 700,000 users that are active each month, and over 1.7 million users that are registered.
Intuit purchased mint for personal finance in October 2009.
More than mint
there are other players in the field, however, as other companies develop similar tools. One example of this is clearcheckbook.com that helps with online management of your checkbook. Wesabe is another big player, but it is more difficult to download your credit card and checking account information with them than with Mint for personal finance. Strands also helps you manage your finances with a tool for tracking and setting up personal budgets, and Geezeo also focuses on budgets.
Mobility
Most of these personal tools for finance are also becoming mobile. Wesabe and mint offer websites that are mobile-optimized and also offer iPhone applications. They can also send out alerts as text messages or push alerts on the iPhone. If you are getting close to your credit card limit, you will be sent an alert by these companies.
If you are looking for help with paying bills, you can use BillTracker and Bill Minder so that they always get paid on time.
The future
Finance software for personal use and the way we use it has been transformed by the Internet in recent years. It is sure to be transformed once again in the near future as advanced technology offers more features and benefits to the programs.
Personal finance software can take all the hassle out of keeping track of your finances manually. Gone are the days when you needed a simple ledger book and a pencil by your side.
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