How to Avoid “The Shaft”: MintLife Shows How Companies Prey on the Poor

Borrower beware. There’s no such thing as easy money. Especially when it comes to things like payday loans, rent-to-own deals, and some credit cards.

With recent headlines exposing how some companies make money off those who don’t have much, MintLife, the award-winning blog from Mint.com, today published an infographic showing what consumers should know before turning to some of these lenders for quick cash or loans. The report can be found on the award-winning MintLife blog at: www.mint.com/blog/.

That $200 paycheck advance can cost an additional $60 in fees, even if paid off in a couple of weeks. Let it slide for six months, and the amount owed could grow to as much as $720, plus the original $200. Buying a new mattress? It may cost $1,000 to buy in cash, but a rent-to-own store will charge $19.95 per week to buy it, adding up to more than $2,000 over two years.

“When an offer of instant cash seems too good to be true, it generally is, and people often don’t know the real cost behind them,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit Inc.’s (Nasdaq:INTU) Personal Finance Group. “Mint.com is dedicated to bringing transparency to people’s finances, both through the product and on the blog. We want to help them increase their financial literacy – making complex issues easy to understand – no matter how small a population they affect. Knowing the terms of all financial relationships, and the risks involved, is an essential element for people trying to make better financial decisions.”

Urging readers to “Know your Money. Live your Life,” the MintLife blog covers topics that are important to those trying to save and do more with their money. It includes tips and tricks, educational content, relevant Tweets, a glossary of financial terms, and information about the Mint.com product. The blog has more than 700,000 unique readers each month, and is among the top-ranking personal finance blogs available on the Web.

“Having credit is an important part of establishing your financial life, and there are many unbanked or under-banked people who are working to correct bad credit or develop new relationships,” said Patzer. “This information shows where pitfalls lie, so people can avoid them. For example, payday loans from rent-to-own establishments can have an annual percentage rate higher than 500 percent, which should be avoided at all costs.”

About Mint.com

Mint.com is a leading online personal finance service from Intuit Inc., providing more than 1.7 million users a fresh, easy and intelligent way to manage their money. And it’s free. Launched in September 2007, Mint.com has quickly grown to track nearly $200 billion in transactions and $50 billion in assets and has identified more than $300 million in potential savings for its users. Mint.com’s innovation is in applying advanced technology to deliver breakthrough ease-of-use. Using patent-pending technology and proprietary algorithms, Mint.com allows users to see all their financial accounts in one place, makes it easy to set and keep to budgets, and helps identify money saving ideas. For more information on Mint.com's free online personal finance service, visit http://www.mint.com.

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants. The company’s financial institutions division, anchored by Digital Insight, provides on-demand banking services to help banks and credit unions serve businesses and consumers with innovative solutions.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.2 billion in its fiscal year 2009. The company has approximately 7,800 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

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