Visible Banking: Personal finance: the internet banking 2.0 killer app?

Social lending is a good example of web 2.0, with websites such as Prosper.com or Zopa.co.uk.
Web 2.0 changed your expectations as a client: you want more control.

Manage your money 2.0
Nowadays more than ever, people want to be in a position to better manage their money. They want to have access to easy-to-use, if possible free, tools. They are looking for help & advice they could trust.

I believe personal finance / financial planning is currently the hottest area for banks & web 2.0. Proof is in the significant number of start-ups recently launched, and the growing number of traditional banks integrating personal finance into online banking.

I invite you to check Keane's presentation "Online Services Survey: What Customers Want".
One of the key findings: "the majority of customers want to improve their financial planning and admit they need help".

Another interesting statistic from the Online Banking Report: "About 16% of U.S. households used some personal-finance feature at least once in 2006. That percentage is expected to climb to an estimated 33% by 2016, with nearly three-quarters of those households using personal-finance tools offered by their financial institution online."

Tools to manage your money: a good way to increase internet banking penetration for banks?
Banks want to convert more customers into Internet Banking customers. We all try to urge our customers to use the web and to see Internet Banking not only as an efficient way to check their accounts or pay a bill but a valuable platform, customized to their needs, where they can find trusted information and purchase most of their financial products.

Truth is Banks are struggling with online sales...

Please check the following articles listed below:
* Back Story: Wall Street Journal's Article on Online Financial Planning Tools from Banks
* Banks' online tools ease financial tracking
* Bank of America is First Major U.S. Bank to Integrate Personal Finance into Online Banking

A few US banks already provide advanced online financial planning tools, and I think it is a good way to:
1. convert more customers to Internet Banking
2. build trust and, as a result, have more faithful customers
3. increase online sales

Concept
For little or no cost, bank customers can, among other things:
* Track their spending in different categories and from different sources in one place
* Create budgets and get e-mail alerts when they are close to or have exceeded their targets
* Pay bills
* Share account access with third parties
* Transfer and store important documents online

For more info, I invite you to check the following services:
* Bank of America's My Portfolio

* Wells Fargo's MySpendingReport

Pure online players
Two weeks ago I published a post on Wesabe, probably the most well-known community money-saving service.

A couple of days later, I received an email from Noah the "marketing guy" at MyMint.com.
Noah offered me to review their platform, which is a free online tool to track and manage your money "plus some other neat features". It hasn't been launched yet, but I plan to post my review in the next month or so.

Please find below several articles on web 2.0 for Personal Finance:
* Manage your finance with Wesabe
* Buxfer Showcases Personal Finance 2.0 Features
* Billmonk Has A Half Brother
* Will Google Create an Online Quicken Clone?

A few online players
Wesabe, MyMint, BillMonk, Buxfer, BudgetTracker, Dimewise, Foonance, IOweYou, NetworthIQ, MedBillManager.