(15 October 2009 – Global) MasterCard has introduce a new online, interactive financial management tool to help debit cardholders track spending, while Amex has launched a free online account aggregation and money management service.MasterCard Worldwide today announced the launch of MasterCard Money Manager, a tool that enables MasterCard cardholders to quickly and efficiently monitor debit card spending for themselves and members of their household.
Using the web-based tool, consumers have the ability to review signature and PIN-based MasterCard transactions by merchant category, and create customized categories, making it easy to identify spending patterns and compare actual spend to an allocated budget.
American Express has launched a similar product – coincidentally called – Money Manager, an online personal finance service that pools cardholder finances across multiple institutions into a secure location on their website.
Members can link bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, mortgage loans, car loans, student loans and rewards points from 11,000 institutions and access charts that automatically categorise their spending, set budgets, receive alerts to stay on track, and get updates on their investments.
Patricia Preston, senior vice president, U.S. Debit Product Management and Development, MasterCard Worldwide, said that as consumers increasingly seek greater control and visibility into their spending, the tool will provide an intuitive and simple to use way to manage and assess an individual or household budget.