In the online desktop era, we’ve seen only one direct-to-consumer PFM mega-hit: Mint (see note 1).

But looking at recent rankings in the U.S. Apple App Store (iOS) it looks like that may be changing. There are currently five specialty PFMs in the 13 most-downloaded free finance apps, including Mint of course. Is the mobile device finally what will make PFMs popular with consumers? Or are these apps just being downloaded by curious smartphone owners who will never register for the service, let alone become active users? 

My Take: Mobile is, and will be, a huge driver for specialty PFM apps. App stores help consumers find the services, and mobile makes them less daunting to use. But it’s not just the mobile platform driving usage at these four challengers (see below), it’s the way they have positioned themselves with tangible consumer benefits (e.g., save money by spotting fraud charges) rather than the nebulous (e.g., “manage your spending for a better life”).

Parsing this list a little closer, only Mint is positioned as a pure PFM. The challengers are all backing into PFM from various niches:

• BillGuard (#5) is positioned as a fraudulent charge protector
  and accomplishes that through account monitoring. It appeals to
  those concerned about losing money to fraudsters and greedy merchants.

• Lemon (#7) is positioned around mobile wallets and payments, but it also offers account monitoring as a premium service. It appeals to early adopters wanting to use their smartphones for payments and all things financial. 

• Manilla (#12) revolves around billing and financial statements, but obviously aggregated bank and credit card statements is a core PFM feature. It appeals to those wanting better management of their mess of paper bills, receipts and records. 

• Credit Karma (#13) focuses on credit scores and debt management, but recently extended into full account monitoring. It appeals to those wanting to improve their credit scores and better manage debt.

Because most consumers have no interest in looking at a bar chart of their spending, it makes sense to sneak in the PFM piece through more compelling, benefit-laden service offerings. For banks, all four of these approaches are worth a look. 

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Table: 20 most popular free finance mobile apps in U.S. Apple App Store 
Does not include several non-financial apps

Source: U.S. Apple App Store accessed via iPhone 5 from Seattle, WA on Fri. July 26, 2013 at 11 AM PDT 

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Notes:
1. Not counting bank-branded PFMs from Intuit, Yodlee, Geezeo, Money Desktop, et al. And not counting the packaged-software stalwarts from the 1990s, Microsoft Money and Quicken.
2. BillGuard moved up to the #1 position over the weekend and remains there as of 6:00 PM PDT today
3. Check (formerly PageOnce) should also be considered in this discussion. It has been a top-20 finance app for the past few years, despite currently running in the lower 30s, probably due to its recent rebranding to an entirely new name
4. For more info, see the Online Banking Report PFM library (subscription required): PFM 4.0 (June 2012); PFM 3.0 (May 2010); Social Personal Finance (June 2007); Personal Finance Features for Online Banking (Aug 2006).