Service Review - Rudder.com

Have you ever wanted a simple way to keep an eye on your accounts and credit cards on a daily basis? Have you wanted to do this without having to go to separate online bank/credit card accounts? If so, Rudder is your solution. Simple, easy, and secure financial management is what Rudder is and what they are trying to be. They are not Mint, and they are not Quickbooks, they are a new way of looking at your money.

If you page through the introduction to the service on their website you may notice the headline for one of the items: “Break Tradition, Look Forward”. In traditional budget software you are required to look back at what you did wrong that made you go over your budget, and make your change from there. With Rudder you are looking forward and know exactly how much money you have available after pay days, after bills are paid, and after credit card statements are paid, which keeps you ahead of your money.

Traditionally personal finance software tools have always focused on analyzing the past and what happened there.  At Rudder we take a different approach and allow our users to make forward looking decisions by providing them with the amount they can spend/save and still meet their upcoming bills and commitments. If you make the right decision today maybe you won’t have to look back on it someday and wonder what went wrong?

What Can It Do For You?

Consolidate info into one place - if you are someone who has multiple bank accounts and multiple accounts within bank accounts, then you will want this. You can add all of your bank accounts and then choose which accounts within those accounts (checking, saving, etc…) you want to see. It is all in one place. Credit cards? It can handle those to, and will even show you your balance, which should be a nudge in the direction to pay the sucker off!

Bill Reminders - I’m busy and I know that you are. Bill reminders are awesome, especially when they are emailed to me! Never forget to pay a bill again.

Accurate forecasting - As mentioned above, Rudder knows what you will have left after bills are paid, after you get paid, and after you pay down on your credit card debt.  It takes all of that into account and gives you a very clear picture of the cash you have available, never giving you the option to have a negative balance.

Recent Activity - With identity theft the way it is today who wouldn’t want to keep an eye on their financial accounts on a daily basis? Rudder makes this easier as well, and they do this by emailing you every day with recent activity in any of your accounts. If there is none, they’ll email you anyway so that you can keep an eye on your balances.

Is It safe?

If you are providing your account information to any service you want to know that it is secure. I can assure you that Rudder takes the same steps as most of your banks do, your information is not going to get into the wrong hands! All of the information on the website is transmitted using 128 bit encryption (SSL) which is exactly what most banks adhere to on their websites. Rudder’s servers are also stored behind a firewall and intrusion detection system which is monitored around the clock 365 days a year. In addition, the servers that keep track of your transactions are stored at a secure facility that is protected by biometric scanning, security cameras, and a 24/7/365 security staff. And in addition to all of that, Rudder.com is tested daily by Hacker Safe.

There is no such thing as a short cut here and the folks at Rudder understand that.

Just how private is my information?

Rudder has partnered with CashEdge who is a leader in the Account Aggregation field, so that they can connect to your banks and credit cards. CashEdge is currently serving more than 600 leading financial institutions so there is a very good chance that yours is one of theirs! You can visit Rudder.com for more information on CashEdge and their security and privacy policies.

And Rudder does not stop with an incredible partnership. They also do not store usernames, passwords, or any account information. This added step ensures that no Rudder employee can view or make changes to your information. This is the kind of privacy policy I like.

Can I Trust It?

Yes, you can. Not only because of everything mentioned above, but because you log into their website anonymously. All they require for a login is your email address, nothing personally identifiable.

My Thoughts After 30 Days

I have used this service for 30 days and will continue to use it. It is easy to set up and easy to use. Not only that but it sends me updates every day on all of my accounts. From that email I see recent transactions, what bills are due and when, how much cash is at in my bank account after bills are paid, and the balances in all of my accounts. ALL IN ONE PLACE. I don’t even have to go to the website to get my information, they send it to me.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Secure
• Email Updates/Reminders
• Tracks my bills AND marks them as paid for me

Cons:

• No “cash” tracking system just yet (It would be awesome if they could connect with Tweet What You Spend (review on this service in November))
• Can’t select if you prefer HTML or TEXT email

Planned Updates:

• Multiple Incomes: For couples that would like to see a ‘combined view’ of their finances, we will be adding the ability to add another income. This also works for those that have multiple lines of income.
• Additional Bill Frequencies: We had originally designed the bill view with monthly bills in mind. We will soon offer users the ability to add bills that occur more or less frequently. Users will be able to add weekly and bi-weekly bills like lawn services as well as quarterly and yearly bills like insurance and tax payments. We will also let users add one time bills, like maintenance & repairs.

Head over to Rudder.com and sign up for free. Give it a shot for at least 30 days (to give yourself and the system time to get used to one another) and then make your decision.

Although this is a great service I know that it is not the only one out there for personal finances online. What have you found to be a good service and why?

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