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until someone hacks their servers or an employee loses a laptop. i always find it ironic that mint pops up so often on gawker sites, often on the same main page as some large merchant data breach...
until someone hacks their servers or an employee loses a laptop. i always find it ironic that mint pops up so often on gawker sites, often on the same main page as some large merchant data breach...
The problem with the smarthippo idea is that no one is ever honest about their credit, let alone on a public site. People just don't want to share their private financial information with 200 people. The difference between rates is rarely that different. The difference is the quality of service -- including a lender who has th experience to tell you when to lock in. I don't understand how this online tool can handle the complexity of the mortgage business. Financial services simply isn't the same as shopping for the best price on a fridge. We used Voyant (www.planwithvoyant.com) to compare our current financial plan to a new plan with a refinance. After the approximate $5K to refinance, we didn't come out ahead even with a much lower rate. Refinancing isn't always a good idea and not many lenders will tell you that.
The problem with the smarthippo idea is that no one is ever honest about their credit, let alone on a public site. People just don't want to share their private financial information with 200 lenders. The difference between rates is rarely that different. The difference is the quality of service -- including a lender who has th experience to tell you when to lock in your rate. I don't understand how this online tool can handle the complexity of the mortgage business. Financial services simply isn't the same as shopping for the best price on a fridge. We used Voyant (www.planwithvoyant.com) to compare our current financial plan to a new plan with a refinance. After the approximate $5K to refinance, we didn't come out ahead even with a much lower rate. Refinancing isn't always a good idea and not many lenders will tell you that.
@cathycameron:@cathycameron: BTW-It's flattering that you are following SmartHippo around the web and using misinformation to put us down and make Voyant look good, but along with posing as a consumer and not a company rep, it's a pretty dishonest tactic and I personally would not trust my money with a company that thinks that's alright...
Kelly Rusk, SmartHippo.
@cathycameron:@cathycameron: I think you misunderstood SmartHippo a little. No personal data is recorded or collected. You simply plug in some data to the search engine that will match you up with applicable mortgages. From there you can choose to apply to any of them directly through the financial institution. There are no transactions through SmartHippo, it's simply matching you up with the best rates and from there you can select a lender.
On the second point--I absolutely agree that quality of service is important which is where the user reviews come in handy. If someone quotes an inaccurate rate--or on the other hand--is extremely helpful and knowledgeable, the user can come back on the site and write a review to help other users make smart decisions when selecting a lender.
If you have any other questions about SmartHippo, please feel free to email me directly at kelly (at) smarthippo.com. Thanks!
Kelly Rusk
Community Manager
SmartHippo
Is Mint safe to use? It sounds great in theory, but I'm leary about giving a third party all my banking info.
@dartmouth05: I love mint. It's SSL encrypted with an AES 256 bit key so it's as secure as it can be.