Intuit Mint

{{Short description|Web-based personal financial management service}}

{{Infobox company

| logo = Intuit Mint new logo.svg

| name = Mint

| type = Subsidiary

| foundation = {{start date and age|2006}}

| defunct = {{End date|2024|03|23}}

| founder = Aaron Patzer

| parent = Intuit

| industry = Personal finance, software

| location = Mountain View, California

| location_country = United States

| fate = Merged with Credit Karma

| area_served = United States, Canada

| products = Web application, mobile application

| revenue =

| num_employees = 35; before acquired by Intuit in 2009{{cite web |url = https://techcrunch.com/2009/10/07/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-startup-building-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ | title = Everything You Wanted To Know About Startup Building But Were Afraid To Ask | access-date = 2009-10-14 | date = October 7, 2009 | publisher = TechCrunch }}

| homepage = {{URL|https://mint.intuit.com/|mint.intuit.com}}

}}

Mint, also known as Intuit Mint (styled in its logo as intuit mint with dotted 't' characters in "intuit" and undotted 'i' characters) and formerly known as Mint.com, was a personal financial management website and mobile app for the US and Canada produced by Intuit, Inc. (which also produces TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma).{{cite web|url=http://satisfaction.mint.com/mint/topics/can_mint_be_used_outside_of_the_u_s?from_gsfn=true|title=Can Mint be used outside of the U.S.?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126083654/http://satisfaction.mint.com/mint/topics/can_mint_be_used_outside_of_the_u_s?from_gsfn=true|archive-date=2011-01-26}} Mint's primary service allowed users to track bank, credit card, investment, and loan balances and transactions through a single user interface, as well as create budgets and set financial goals.

History

=Founding and fundraising=

Mint.com was originally created by Aaron Patzer and provided account aggregation through a deal with Yodlee.

In February 2008, revenue was generated through lead generation, earned via earning referral fees from recommendations of highly personalized, targeted financial products to its users.{{cite web | url = http://blog.mint.com/blog/updates/how-mints-smartsave%E2%84%A2-savings-engine-works/ | publisher = Mint.com | title = How Mint's SmartSave Savings Engine Works | quote = Mint does make a small referral fee from advertisers on some offers. That’s what keeps Mint free. | date = October 11, 2007 | access-date = 2008-02-24 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080214203643/http://blog.mint.com/blog/updates/how-mints-smartsave%E2%84%A2-savings-engine-works/ | archive-date = February 14, 2008 }}

Mint raised over $31 million in venture capital funding from DAG Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and First Round Capital,{{cite web | last = Vivek | date = May 23, 2007 | title = MyMint.com acquires Mint.com; raises $5 million | publisher = Startup Squad | url = http://startupsquad.com/2007/05/23/mymintcom-acquires-mintcom-raises-5-million/ | access-date = October 18, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081108120654/http://startupsquad.com/2007/05/23/mymintcom-acquires-mintcom-raises-5-million/ | archive-date = November 8, 2008 | url-status = dead }}{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2009/08/12/mintcom-rakes-14-million-in-third-round-of-funding/|title=Mint.com rakes in $14 Million in third round of funding|date=August 12, 2009|first=Kim-Mai|last=Cutler|publisher=VentureBeat}} as well as from angel investors including Ram Shriram, an early investor in Google.{{cite web | last = Marshall | first = Matt | date = October 16, 2007 | title = Mint, online money manager, raises $4.7M | publisher = Venture Beat | url = https://venturebeat.com/2007/10/16/mint-online-money-manager-raises-47m/ }} The latest round of $14 million was closed on August 4, 2009,{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1378887/000137888709000006/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml|title=SEC FORM D|work=sec.gov|access-date=27 February 2015}} and reported by CEO Aaron Patzer as preemptive.{{cite web | first = Jason | last = Kincaid | title = Full Details On Mint's $14 Million Series C Round | publisher = Tech Crunch | date = August 12, 2009 | url = https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/12/full-details-on-mints-14-million-series-c-round }} TechCrunch later pegged the valuation of Mint at $140 million in 2009.{{cite web | first = Michael | last = Arrington | title = Mint is Worth A Mint: $140 Million Valuation | publisher = Tech Crunch | date = September 2, 2009 | url = https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/02/mint-is-worth-a-mint-140-million-valuation/ }} It had 35 employees, before it was acquired in 2009.

=Purchase by Intuit=

On September 13, 2009, TechCrunch reported Intuit would acquire Mint for $170 million.{{cite web | first = Michael | last = Arrington | title = Intuit To Acquire (Former TechCrunch50 Winner) Mint For $170 Million | publisher = Tech Crunch | date = September 13, 2009 | url = https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/13/intuit-to-acquire-former-techcrunch50-winner-mint-for-170-million/ }} An official announcement was made the following day.

On November 2, 2009, Intuit announced its acquisition of Mint.com was complete. The former CEO of Mint.com, Aaron Patzer, was named vice president and general manager of Intuit's personal finance group, responsible for Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop, and mobile offerings. Patzer further added the features of the online product Mint.com would be incorporated into the Intuit's Quicken desktop product, and vice versa, as two collaborative aspects of the Intuit Personal Finance team.{{cite web | title = Intuit Completes Acquisition of Mint.com | publisher = The Quicken Blog | date = November 2, 2009 | url = http://blog.quicken.intuit.com/announcement/2009/11/02/intuit-completes-acquisition-of-mint-com/ | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100511234408/http://blog.quicken.intuit.com/announcement/2009/11/02/intuit-completes-acquisition-of-mint-com/ | archive-date = May 11, 2010 }}

=Operations under Intuit=

Mint switched to using Intuit's own system for connecting to accounts after it was purchased by Intuit in 2009.{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/12/02/pf/mint_leaves_yodlee/index.htm|title=Yodlee no longer powers Mint.com's data aggregation tools | work=CNN | first=Blake|last=Ellis|date=December 2, 2010}} It was later renamed from "Mint.com" to just "Mint". Mint's primary service allowed users to track bank, credit card, investment, and loan balances and transactions through a single user interface, as well as create budgets and set financial goals.{{cite web|url= http://mashable.com/2010/04/12/mint-cash-pending |title=Mint.com Now Tracks Cash and Pending Transactions|website=Mashable|access-date=2010-04-19}}{{cite web | title = Intuit Completes Acquisition of Mint.com | publisher = Intuit | date = November 2, 2009 | url = http://about.intuit.com/about_intuit/press_room/press_release/articles/2009/IntuitCompletesAcquisitionofMint.com }} In 2010, Mint.com said it could connect with more than 16,000 US and Canadian financial institutions, and to support more than 17 million individual financial accounts.{{cite web|last1=Martha|first1=Shaughnessy|title=Using Intuit's Technology Doubles Bank Access, Completes Users' Experience|url=https://www.mint.com/press/get-the-full-financial-picture-mint-com-works-with-nearly-all-u-s-banks|publisher=Mint.com press release|access-date=28 September 2015|date=19 April 2010}} Patzer left Intuit in December 2012.{{cite web | url=http://www.linkedin.com/in/apatzer | title=LinkedIn.com – Aaron Patzer | work=Mint.com | access-date=May 20, 2014}} By 2011, Mint had replaced Intuit's Online Quicken product,{{Citation |last=Reklaitis |first=Victor |date=February 22, 2011|title=Aaron Patzer Makes A Mint With His Financial Website|publisher=Investor's Business Daily |url=https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/aaron-patzer-makes-a-mint-with-his-financial-website/ |access-date=March 2, 2025}} a process that took place in 2013, with users migrated over.{{Citation |last= |first= |year=|title= Coveted asset: His brain|publisher= |url=https://www.investmentnews.com/fintech/coveted-asset-his-brain/25919 |access-date=}}

In 2016, Mint.com reported to have over 20 million users.{{cite web | url=https://blog.mint.com/credit/mint-by-the-numbers-which-user-are-you-040616/ | title=Mint by the Numbers: Which User Are You? | website = Mint.com | date=6 April 2016 | access-date=January 7, 2017 | quote=Over this decade, we've grown to include over 20 million users!}} In 2019, Intuit's consumer sector, consisting largely of Mint and Turbotax, had $2.775 billion in revenue. In 2020, Mint had 13 million registered users. Fast Company criticized the app for having been neglected by Intuit, noting core functionality remained the same, but that the software was not being significantly improved over time. It quoted founder Aaron Patzer saying "in my mind, it's been in maintenance mode the last eight years."{{Citation |last=Pegoraro |first=Rob |date=January 23, 2020|title=What the hell happened to Mint? |publisher=Fast Company |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90453586/what-the-hell-happened-to-mint |access-date=February 28, 2025}}

=Shut down=

Intuit announced Mint would be shutting down on December 31, 2023, and prompted its users to move to its Credit Karma product.{{Cite news |last=Ford |first=Brady |date=November 1, 2023 |title=Intuit Is Closing Personal-Finance App Mint, Shifts Users to Credit Karma |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-01/intuit-winds-down-personal-finance-app-mint-shifts-users-to-credit-karma |publisher=Bloomberg News}} This was later changed to March 23, 2024.{{Cite web |last1=Gravier |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Suknanan |first2=Jasmin |date=2024-03-22 |title=Mint is about to go away — here are some alternative budget apps to consider |url=https://www.cnbc.com/select/mint-budgeting-app-is-going-away-here-are-some-alternatives/ |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=CNBC |language=en}}

Security controversy

In 2010, it was reported that Mint asked users to provide both the usernames and the passwords to their bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial accounts, which Mint then stored in its databases in a decryptable format. This raised concerns that if the Mint databases were ever hacked, both usernames and passwords would become available to rogue third parties. Some banks support a separate "access code" for read-only access to financial information, which reduces the risk to some degree.{{cite news

| url=http://www.mybanktracker.com/news/2011/05/26/ing-direct-read-only-access-codes-financial-aggregation/

| title=ING Direct Launches 'Read-Only' Access Codes for Financial Aggregation

| date=2011-05-26

| access-date=2013-09-28

| archive-date=2015-02-24

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224212159/http://www.mybanktracker.com/news/2011/05/26/ing-direct-read-only-access-codes-financial-aggregation/

| url-status=dead

}}{{cite web

| url=http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/10820/could-mint-com-be-more-secure-and-if-so-how/15197#15197

| title=Could mint.com be more secure, and if so, how?

| work=IT Security Stack Exchange

| access-date=2013-09-28 }}

In January 2017, Intuit and JPMorgan Chase settled a longstanding dispute, and agreed to develop software where Chase customers send their data, for financial purposes, to Mint without having Intuit store customers' names and passwords. It was also agreed Intuit would never sell Chase's customer data.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/01/25/chase-mint-reach-deal-faster-more-secure-data-sharing/97059434/|title=Chase, Mint reach deal for faster, more secure data-sharing|work=USA TODAY|access-date=2017-05-04|language=en}}