Intuit-owned personal finance management (PFM) outfit Mint has launched an iPad app it claims takes advantage of the tablet's large multi-touch screen to offer users a more interactive experience.
The app takes advantage of Apple's newly released iOS 5 and, says Mint, "re-envisions" its Web site features.
Users can organise all their accounts, with one tap delivering a complete overview of finances, and then pinch, tap and flick through graphs to drill into spending by category, merchant or budget.
There is also a streaming delivery of account alerts, bill reminders and personalised advice while the app's geo-location capabilities help people categorise cash spending.
Mint lets customers sync multiple devices on their Web browser, Mac, iPad, and iPhone or Android and data is stored to enable customers to check information offline.
Explaining the value of an iPad app over the Web and phone options, Aaron Forth, general manager, Intuit, says: "For couples reviewing their combined savings at home on the couch, or for parents teaching their kids about money, the Mint.com app for iPad lets them tap, pinch and flick, making the experience more collaborative and social."
Finextra verdict It's taken a while, but Mint has set a new benchmark for personal financial management. Mint released its first iPhone app back in 2008, but the tablet, and it's intuitive interface, offers a better form factor for displaying and sharing data than either the smaller-screen handheld or the more unwieldy PC. It will be interesting to see how the banking industry - which has been investing heavily in PFM through the Internet portal - will respond to this fresh challenge.