Both Mint.com and Merrill Edge feature tools that Jennifer can use to keep track of her savings and both have software that allowes the user to set and track progress towards goals. However, one major difference is that Mint allows for the tracking of assets that Jennifer has at any financial institution, as opposed to Merrill Edge which only allows for tracking of assets at BOA and Merrill. This difference could mean that if Jennifer chose Merrill she could get "locked in" to Merrill's investments because she might be unwilling to leave these tracking tools even if the Merrill investment choices are inferior to other investment options at other companies.
Another consideration is that some of the advertised perks of the Merrill Edge account are only available to "Platinum" customers - a status that requires $50,000 of assets deposited in BOA and/or Merrill. Because Jennifer only has $30,000 deposited at BOA, she will not have access to the free trades and other fee waivers advertised as being part of Merrill Edge.
If I were Jennifer and I was looking to utilize budgeting tools I would choose Mint.com because of its ability to use budgeting tools no matter where Jennifer decides to invest. Further, because Jennifer has less than $50,000 she would not even qualify for many of the Merrill Edge perks and may even wind up incurring fees for having a low balance. She could avoid these hassles by choosing Mint.
