The number of banks and credit unions integrating branded personal financial management (PFM) platforms from providers like Mint and Jwaala have helped these startups become internet sensations almost overnight. Now RBC is offering a white label solution from Yodlee, which the bank has dubbed myFinance Tracker.
“myFinanceTracker is a dynamic, customizable financial management tool that allows users to turn banking information into valuable knowledge so that they can SEE and SEIZE opportunities.”
— RBC Canada
Much like other PFM solutions RBC’s myFinance Tracker automatically categorizes transactions, tracks expenses and provides advanced budgeting capabilities for all personal banking and credit card accounts. RBC says the new system will help customers better understand where they are spending their money. Users are able to set budgets, and will receive email alerts whenever they exceed their set limitations.
myFinance Tracker, which RBC believes is the first PFM tool in Canada, is available to all RBC clients at no extra cost.
RBC also timed the redesign of its online banking system to coincide with the launch of myFinanceTracker.
Regarding the decision to deploy a PFM solution, RBC cites a recent poll indicating demand for more advanced — yet simple — online banking capabilities. 20% of Canadians say they are looking for an automated way to access transactions that are simple and intuitive.
myFinance Tracker provides online banking customers with the following online capabilities:
Categorizing Account Transactions — myFinanceTracker groups similar transactions into categories such as “travel” or “grocery.” Includes some common, pre-defined categories, and users can define custom ones of their own. RBC bank account and credit card transactions are automatically loaded into pre-set categories.
Expense Analysis — All account transactions are displayed for each category and sub-category along with the budget limit, giving users an at-a-glance summary of their activity. myFinance Tracker also provides graphs and charts to give users the big picture and show them where their money is going. A pie chart breaks down expenses, so users can quickly see their spending habits.
Budgeting — Consumers will have the ability to clearly define their budget with a maximum spending limit for each category over a specified period. For example, a user could set a $200 limit for dining out. Users can add transactions and immediately see how they fit into their overall budget, so they can plan accordingly.
Money Management — Users have the ability to establish an account balance target for one or more accounts and an alert will be triggered when the balance of an account drops below set parameters. Users can also create printer-friendly reports.
Financial Calendar — A calendar view of past and pending transactions, myFinanceTracker shows all bills, transactions and account balances for the month at once.
Jacob Jegher, a Celent analyst writing in his company’s blog, points out what he sees as a significant shortcoming to myFinance Tracker. “RBC has committed a false start by deciding not to include account aggregation capabilities in the launch,” writes Jegher. “Potentially interested customers who try the service will be frustrated by this. Many of them have multiple accounts (including cards) at a variety of institutions, and the ability to view their complete financial picture is a must.”
ONLINE BANKING ACCOUNT CENTER
RBC strategically placed a banner ad inside its firewall, within its online banking account center.
SPENDING BREAKDOWN
myFinance Tracker shows users how their spending habits distribute by category.
BUDGETING VS. SPENDING
Users can easily monitor how much budget they have remaining in each category, and whether or not they’ve exceeded their spending limits.
CALENDAR
RBC’s myFinance Tracker lays out bills, expenses, deposits and other account activity on a visual calendar.
MANAGE BUDGET
Specify spending limits for each category.
ACCOUNT GROUPS
Users can create their own custom groups in addition to using the pre-defined categories provided by myFinance Tracker.
