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Oct 17, 2007 9:43 pm US/Pacific
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Online Financial Sites Put Accounts in One Place
by Jeanette Pavini
(CBS 5)
Tracking your money can be a full-time job. You may keep your savings at one bank, a checking account at another and credit cards at a third. The average American has accounts with ten different financial institutions. Now, free websites that offer to keep track of your spending for you.
Nita Singh is facing her money head-on, using a new online financial planner called Mint.com.
"You learn a lot about yourself as well, in terms of how you spend [money] and manage it," Singh said.
Mint joins other free sites including Wesabe and Geezeo, that allow users to view all their accounts in one place.
"See where all your money is spent, see where it all goes, how much you spend on gas, groceries, Target, DVDs," Mint founder Aaron Patzer said.
Along with keeping track of your spending, Wesabe and Geezeo include social networking to encourage users to reach their financial goals. At Mint, the twist is recommendations for better deals on monthly bills, banks and credit cards.
"It will analyze your spending patterns and find the credit card that's right for you. If you travel, it will be a miles card. If you buy a lot of gas it will find you one that gives you 5 percent back," Patzer said.
All three sites offer multiple levels of security, and accounts are kept anonymous. Analysts say some banks are catching on.
"Bank of America offers a very similar service that allows you to look at your multiple accounts from one online banking site," said Jean Garascia of Javelin Strategy.
The free sites categorize data automatically, though when CBS 5 Consumerwatch tried out Wesabe and Mint, we found a few transactions were misfiled. Our web browser didn't support Geezeo.
Nita says using Mint has been eye-opening.
"Seeing Starbucks as the number one place I go to all the time, it's a big wake up call to budget or make better decisions. You [can] make yourself some tea and be just as happy," Singh said.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)