Yodlee MoneyCenter review: Usable online financial service?
mavo / Shutterstock
Updated: February 23, 2023
Yodlee isn't a household name, but you might be already using their service and not even know it. The company powers many financial websites. This review tested the beta version Yodlee's MoneyCenter, which targets consumers.
Cost5
Customer service2.5
Ease-of-use3.5
Tools and resources3
Synchronization 4.5
Accessibility3.5
It's reliable, has a customizable summary display, and lets you share your financials with your accountant. However, although Yodlee MoneyCenter was a pioneer in online personal finance, this old-timer is beginning to show its age. Its design is clunky, plus you have to pay to download the mobile app.
Launched in 2006, Yodlee MoneyCenter is the granddaddy of online personal finance software.
It should be mentioned first that quite a few other financial aggregators use Yodlee's backend to import financial data. Many of the services we've already reviewed here including:
Yodlee MoneyCenter features
- View Transactions — Get a detailed list of all transactions automatically categorized from central one location.
- Expense Analysis — Get an instant snapshot of your spending by category.
- Alerts — Get alerts of transactions like large withdrawals, or overdraft protection.
- Budgeting — Setup budgeting and get alerts if you go over your set limits.
- Goal Setting — Create and track the progress of your goals.
- Real Estate — Track the value of your home overtime via Zillow's Zestimate.
While these services all get the financial data from Yodlee, their frontend websites are unique to their respective service. Each has their own custom features that can analyze and report your financial info. Think of these services as adding a pretty face to Yodlee's powerful backend.
After testing out Yodlee for this review, it's obvious Yodlee focuses on the data services. Their consumer service Yodlee MoneyCenter isn't their core focus.
Like Empower or LearnVest, Yodlee MoneyCenter is free to use, and you do not need to be a paid customer to use their service.
Just like the other personal finance aggregators, you enter your financial institution's account information, and Yodlee automatically downloads your data into one central location. The sign-up process and account setup is similar to the others, but not as an intuitive process.
Yodlee also has mobile apps for Apple's iPhone/iPad and Google's Android, so you can access your accounts from anywhere. Though unlike the other services mentioned, they oddly charge $3.99 for their app.
While the price isn't outrageous and a one-time fee, it's just odd when comparing to the other services that don't charge anything. Like most of Yodlee's service, the app is just ok and has most features available in the web version. The user interface is bland and somewhat confusing.
The bottom line
While I think their synchronization with financial institutions works very well, their frontend user interface leaves much to be desired. Yodlee's primary business is their backend service and their money-maker. Yodlee's MoneyCenter free service for consumers seems like it's an afterthought.
The unique features available in MoneyCenter, while neat, are not features most individuals care about when using a service like this. In my experience either individuals care about budgeting or monitoring investment performance. With budgeting, Yodlee does an OK job with this, but it's not very intuitive. Yodlee's investing reporting is minimal and would advise against using it for that purpose.
I personally prefer Empower, who uses Yodlee for their financial backend. Unlike Empower, Yodlee is light in the investing section.
Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com.
Disclaimer
The content provided on Moneywise is information to help users become financially literate. It is neither tax nor legal advice, is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, either express or implied, with respect to the data provided, the timeliness thereof, the results to be obtained by the use thereof or any other matter. Advertisers are not responsible for the content of this site, including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any advertiser product, please visit their website.