By year end, Mountain View, Calif. based Intuit will offer its popular, standalone personal finance manager Mint directly to financial institutions, for them to offer the personal financial management solution as a value add to their customers.

The company said it also plans to continue to offer FinanceWorks, a more traditional PFM that Intuit had offered through banks and credit unions since 2008.

Mint, acquired by Intuit in 2009 and hitherto offered directly to consumers, has proven wildly popular, with some 12 million users claimed by Intuit. Thus the decision to roll out Mint more broadly.

In an interview, Maria Smith, group product manager, indicated that Intuit planned to charge financial institutions for this version of Mint, with fees probably based on number of active users. She did not offer specifics. She did say that Intuit doubted financial institutions would attempt to charge their customers for use of Mint.

Importantly, she also said that this version of Mint will allow the offering institution to customize the advisory email messages Mint as become known for. How it presently works is that Mint users receive regular emails – customized to their financial situation – noting that, for instance, he/she could save $500 a month by refinancing their mortgage or that money could be saved by switching to a lower interest rate credit card.

In this FI-centric version of Mint, advice will continue to be given but the content will be customized by the FI, that is, most probably will use Mint to alert consumers to products offered by the credit union that would benefit them.

Smith said Intuit planned to offer this version of Mint to all financial institutions, not just ones using Intuit online or mobile platforms.

Smith said Intuit planned to continue to offer Mint directly to consumers but the company apparently believes that a personalized, FI-centric edition will resonate with consumers who want customized advice from their own FI.

Instant Insights /

Intuit to Offer Mint Directly to Credit Unions, Banks

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