Microsoft Money to be Discontinued

In the queue for this blog is a post about personal financial software, in particular, Inutit's Quicken. But late last week, Microsoft announced that it was discontinuing Quicken's closest competitor, Microsoft Money, effective at the end of this month.

According to the Microsoft website:

With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.

In an FAQ on the topic, Microsoft goes on to say:

The category of personal financial-management software has changed considerably in the 17 years since Money was first established. As more users shift their attention to full-service offerings provided by banks and brokerages, demand for a comprehensive personal finance toolset has declined.

According to Microsoft, online services for Money (e.g., downloading stock prices) will stop on or around January 31, 2011 (depending on the version and contract). The software will continue to work in a stand-alone mode but, "compatibility with future operating systems and hardware configurations cannot be guaranteed."

While Microsoft maintains that there are "a number of online personal finance management and planning tools...many for free, on the Web..." and cites "full-service offerings" from banks and brokerages, I would argue that it's still useful to have software that allows you to bring information from many different sources together to give you a large, integrated picture of your financial situation.

I would suspect that two things converged to lead Microsoft to make this decision: First, Intuit's software suites have grown and have claimed more and more market share. Second, it's likely that Microsoft is feeling pressure (possibly economic?) from financial institutions who must accommodate multiple export formats in their banking systems.

If you currently use Microsoft Money, you can get more information on the expiration of the software on their website at http://www.microsoft.com/MONEY/default.mspx.