Mint.intuit.com, otherwise known simply as Mint or Mint.com, and regarded as one of the premier personal financial-summary tools, primarily generates revenue through two streams: advertisem*nts that appear on its website and app and referrals to other institutions and companies within the financial services industry.
Mint aims to bring together a view of your total financial life, including bank accounts, bills, credit cards, and investments, to providepersonalized informationto help you manage your money. Since its formation in 2006, it has had great success with raising capital and expanding its customer base, reachingmillions of users. Its operations improved as a result of itsacquisition by Intuit (INTU) in 2009, allowing it to capitalize on multiple revenue streams.
Mint was founded in 2006 with$750,000 from angel investors.It received $4.7 million in Series A venture capital financing in 2007 and $12 million in its Series B round. In August 2009, Mint received $14 million from six investors. Just a few months later, Mint was purchased by Intuit for $170 million.
Key Takeaways
- Mint is a personal financial services company that aggregates information from various accounts for easy management.
- Mint generates revenue through advertisem*nts and referrals.
- Most Mint services are available free to customers.
Mint's Business Model
Mint operates by gatheringall aspects of an individual’s personal finances intoa single location.A user links theirMint account with theirpersonal bank account. Then, as transactions occur, Mint receives the financial information and provides customizable reports. The same process is completed with investments, credit cards,and other financial accounts. Users can input information regarding real estate properties owned to track real estate values.
Mint offers users an easy way to see their bills and moneytogether in one place. This allows for an individual to create and manage a budget while providing a way for users toreceive alerts for different types of activities on their accounts.
Intuit’s purchase of Mint provided numerous benefits to how Mint operates. Through the deal, Mint began to rely on Intuit’s methods ofextractingfinancial informationby utilizing web-scraping applications to gather individual customer data. Information from larger banks is typically extracted using web services or file-transfer protocols,while data from smaller institutions can be extracted using web scraping. Mint currently uses Intuit's Customer Central platform to collect data.
Fast Fact
Intuit purchased Mint for $170 million in Sep. 2009.
Mint's Advertising Business
Mint has monetized its free product byincludingadvertisem*nts on various parts of its website and app to generate advertising revenue. For a fee, companies may purchase advertising space on Mint's various platforms. Mint utilizes targeted advertising, so users may find the advertisem*nts relevantsinceprior search history and elements of the user's profileare utilized in the contextual ad displays.
Mint's Referral Business
Mint generates revenue based on referrals made to financial institutions, products, or credit cards. Through its "Ways to Save"service, Mint offers financial opportunities that may benefit consumers. When a consumer utilizes the advice of Mint, the referred company rewards Mint with a referral payment. For example, Mint often recommends credit cards based on APR and rewards point offerings. Upon an individual signing up for a credit card through Mint, the company receives revenue.
The referral service is utilized when a user requests opportunities or alternatives. For instance, an individual may select to view alternative credit card opportunities and how they compare to theircurrent position. Alternatively, an individual may investigate alternative banking opportunities to search for higher interest rates and lower banking fees. Mint provides users with referral links that contain information on these services. Upon the customer clicking the referral link and completing an offer, the link earns revenue.
Key Challenges
As with other startups, Mint has faced a number of challenges related to competition and growth over the years. The company fared tremendously well early on, as evidenced by its history of fundraising in its early years. While Mint enjoys substantial name recognition and a strong user base at this point, there are always up-and-coming services looking to draw users away. For instance, when Mint announced plans to shutter its bill pay service, rival personal finance service Prism refocused its marketing to indicate that it continued to offer users this option.
Correction—December 21, 2021:A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that sale of user data was one of Mint's revenue sources.
FAQs
Upon an individual signing up for a credit card through Mint, the company receives revenue. The referral service is utilized when a user requests opportunities or alternatives. For instance, an individual may select to view alternative credit card opportunities and how they compare to their current position.
How does Mint.com make money? ›
Mint makes money by displaying targeted ads for credit cards and other finance products. It partners with credit card and finance companies such as BillShark, Wealthfront, and Titan IRA. Also, many users pay $0.99/month for the ad-free experience or they subscribe to the Premium iOS version for $4.99/month.
What are the downsides of using mint com? ›
Pros and Cons of Mint
| Pros of Mint | Cons of Mint |
|---|
| Financial summaries and alerts via email or text message | Problems with account synchronization |
| Free credit score courtesy of Equifax | Lack of bill pay feature |
| Email or text alerts for unusual account activity, bill reminders, and low balances | Doesn't support multiple currencies |
4 more rowsMint operations are funded through the Mint Public Enterprise Fund (PEF), 31 U.S.C. § 5136. The Mint generates revenue through the sale of circulating coins to the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB), numismatic products to the public, and bullion coins to authorized purchasers.
Does Mint sell your information? ›
Release of Information
We will not sell, trade, or rent your PII to others. We do provide some of our product and service offerings through contractual arrangements made with affiliates, service providers, partners and other third parties (“Service Partners”).
Why is Mint shutting down? ›
In less than two weeks, the budgeting app Mint — which once had 3.6 million active users, including me — will shut down forever. According to its parent company, Intuit, Mint wasn't making enough money, so Intuit began the app's closure in January.
Is Intuit discontinuing Mint? ›
Mint, a budgeting app acquired by Intuit in 2009, is shutting down as of Saturday, March 23, 2024. Mint shows users an overview of their financial well-being by displaying the current status of multiple linked accounts on one screen.
Is Mint going away in 2024? ›
Mint will go offline March 23, 2024.
But that's far from the only option. Budgeting apps are a great way to get a grip on your finances.
Why did Mint fail? ›
The original personal finance dashboard, Mint.com's relatively meager ARPU of $2-$3 proved “they had the wrong business model”, said ex-Mint.com product manager and Monarch Money CEO Val Agostino—giving the product away for free and monetizing off referrals .
Can Mint be trusted? ›
Is Mint safe to use? Mint is a personal finance app that is safe to use. The company has safety features including multi-factor authentication and security scanning tools to keep your account and personal data safe. Does it cost money to use Mint?
The United States Mint generates a great deal of profit for the Department of the Treasury. Most of this revenue comes from seigniorage. The United States Mint also earns revenues through the sale of numismatic products such as coins, medals, and related products.
Who pays for the Mint? ›
The Mint does not receive an appropriation from the Parliament of Australia, but instead is self-funded through the sale of coins, and operates a special account under the authority of section 78(1) of the PGPA Act. Under the funding arrangement the Mint returns any surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
What company owns Mint? ›
Mint Mobile, LLC is a mobile virtual network operator owned by T-Mobile US. Mint Mobile offers users the option to buy either a physical SIM card or an eSIM online. They charge users in increments of 3, 6, or 12 months, with discounts that vary depending on the length of the subscription.
How much does Mint actually cost? ›
Mint is available in both a free and paid version. The paid version is called Mint Premium and costs $4.99 a month.
Is Mint worth paying for? ›
Ultimately, the premium subscription is most ideal for those who want a more in-depth overview of their finances and are willing to pay for the additional features. However, those looking to save money may be just as happy with the free version of the app.
How do budgeting apps make money? ›
You make money when users buy the financial items your app promotes. For example, Mint offers services and products like credit cards, insurance, loans, and many more. Anytime customers take Mint's advice, the app receives a referral payment.
Is Mint really free? ›
Mint is available in both a free and paid version. The paid version is called Mint Premium and costs $4.99 a month.
Does Mint cost money to use? ›
Pricing overview
Mint is free for everyone to use. This was a great tool for me when I first budgeting as a college student. I was an early adopter to Mint and have enjoyed seeing it blossom into a fully featured program for tracking finances, transactions, investments, debts, expenditures, credit, and much more.
How much revenue does Mint make? ›
So far in 2023, Mint earned a total of $1.6M of net revenue, which nets out to $0.86 per user. And this is all net, so it's what Intuit gets to keep after Apple and Google take their fees. And it's worth noting that the majority of this revenue, a little over 96%, is coming from the App Store.
