From hearing that Mint.com had released an iPhone app and opening the app for the first time, I think I had let about 3 seconds pass.

If you’re one of the 500k people who use Mint and also own an iPhone, I suspect you had just about the same reaction. The funny thing is that I only started using Mint about a month ago and I’m completely in love with it. The fact that all I have to do is open the app and I can see all my up to date financial info… is astonishing.

I had written a post a while ago about some concept iPhone apps I’d love to have, and an HSBC app was on that list. My reasoning was that I hate having to spend so long each time I log into my bank account online. I thought with such a flexible platform such as the iPhone, there much be a quicker way. Unfortunately there wasn’t a way to connect directly to my bank account over the iPhone… keyword being “directly”. Mint’s iPhone app allows me to indirectly view real time account information including the available balance, and transation history. So instead of creating a mock-up of what an HSBC iPhone app might look like, I’m going to pump up Mint’s tire here a bit and give them a review.

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I probably let too much time pass before writing this review since when I set out to do it – this app was in my concept iPhone apps list. Come to find out, it had been in development for… a while to say the least.

I remember sitting at my parents old 386x PC in the morning playing the original Maxis SimCity Classic, setting the speed to high just to get enough cash to buy that airport before I had to leave for school. That original feeling hasn’t really changed (neither has the veil of complexity that is their city development intelligence).

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