Mint vs. Personal Assistant

[cdodge]

Any one use mint or personal assistant?


I am trying to figure out which one I like more. PA has more options but mint has better financial information.

I am wondering how they affect battery life I may just keep both of them installed.

Just getting other people ideas.

Thanks!

 

[Doc_Stew]

I've used both and am still using both. I really like personal assistant - you can have ALL your accounts in one place (amazon, verizon, utilities, etc.). Mint only allows you to have credit cards, bank accts, loans, and investments. Mint has a better welcome screen giving you balances in your bank accts and all your credit cards/investments, whereas PA has you press a button to see your balance. Mint has a cool widget that has your bank balance/cc balances on your homescreen (as long as no one uses your phone). I've had weird problems syncing with Mint - get lots of redundant charges in my bank acct that aren't actually there. I haven't upgraded to the new 1.4 version because I haven't uninstalled the old version (the only way to upgrade is to uninstall old version).

I haven't noticed a drain on battery life using either one. To be honest, I probably use PA more than Mint, but both have uses. I wish I could combine the two I definitely recommend using the websites for both to set up accts - mint.com and pageonce.com for PA.

 

[jayno20]

I wish PA worked with my bank account :'(

 

[mrjinglesusa]

My idea is that it's not a good idea to have credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. on an application on a cell phone.

 

[dibs ODDJOB]

My idea is that it's not a good idea to have credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. on an application on a cell phone.

Except that they are not, at least in Mint. Mint only shows you transactions, balances, and budgets. No information is shown. And you can set a passcode to get into the app.

 

[cdodge]

My idea is that it's not a good idea to have credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. on an application on a cell phone.

I was worried at first but it does not list any full account numbers and i have them password protected.

The accounts are read only so you can't really make any changes.

I love both apps and my main curiosity was battery life if I left both of them installed.

It seems like the updates are not done on the phone directly. I was thinking that it was just another app possibly syncing all the time eating battery life but that does not appear to be the case.

 

[rahulp]

I'm also trying to choose between both apps and was wondering if either or both would allow me to add bank accounts in the UK (HSBC, Citibank UK)?

 

[nightfishing]

While they share some common functions they are very different Apps.

If you are not going to use Mint.com for managing/budgeting/planning etc, then the app will be quite neutered.

PA is basically an info only app. I used it for awhile for non-banking accounts, and it was quite slick at what it did.

 

[clifnigel001]

For finance app I would 100% recommend Easymoney! It has many useful functions such as 1 time payment or recurring bill reminders and budget settings. It is highly reliable and handy!

 

[Steven58]

I wish there was a quicken app for android. I keep expenses categorized for taxes with it.

 

[Ecks]

I have Mint, but I don't really use it for anything other than viewing my account balances. I used to enjoy the emails that told me about my projected budgets, but now when I see these emails, I just delete them. Budget smudget.

 

[rapidsandroid]

My idea is that it's not a good idea to have credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. on an application on a cell phone.

Once HTC gives us remote wipe next month, then we will have some reassurance to put more private info on the phone. I still do not understand why remote wipe is not a basic service from the get go for all smart phones. Also, having a strong PIN or password for the bank apps helps, along with the lock pattern on the phone.
We here in the US are sooo far behind the rest of the world in phone use. Example, Japan uses their phones to pay for groceries at the store and you can use phones to buy items from vending machines.

 

[gonzoguy24]

One thing I will say about Mint is it is never up to date...It is always like a day or two behind and I find this very annoying since I budget pretty hard and move all excess funds out of my account for savings purposes so my main checking account

 

[radtechy]

i dont trust mint. i'm just worried about getting my info clipped

 

[rapidsandroid]

i dont trust mint. i'm just worried about getting my info clipped

I have been using Mint for two years and never had any security concerns or issues. It is a read-only service...neither you nor anyone else can make transactions. So, as long as you have a strong password on your Mint account, you will be the only one who can read your accounts.
I researched them thoroughly before I started using them to keep me on budget because frankly most banks suck at giving their customers tools to track their expenses. Mint uses the same security services as banks do & they have a strong privacy policy.
I believe most people have an irrational fear of using services like Mint because you can't reach out and touch them. If it makes you feel any better, Quicken bought Mint several months ago & Quicken has been a reputable, trustful source for tracking finances for over a decade. Also, numerous journalists have investigated & reviewed Mint and I have never read one bad review about them or their security.

 

[NightAngel79]

Kicking this discussion to the applications section as long as everyones cool with that.