The Best 15 Financial iPhone Apps
First, it was the cell phone. Next came the camera-phone. Now, there’s the iPhone. Next up: the “wallet-phone”? (Actually, being able to pay with your phone is probably not that far off). Until then, there are already hundreds of financial apps for the iPhone that make tracking and managing your personal finances on the go as easy as texting. Want to enlist your iPhone to help you get richer? Here are 15 16 (we added one) of the best personal finance iPhone apps.
1. Mint iPhone App
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Mint.com leads the pack when it comes to integrated online personal finance management; it should come as no surprise they’re blazing the path on the mobile front, too. Mint’s iPhone app lets you securely access all of your financial data anytime on the go. Perfect for when you need to stay on top of your checking account and credit card balances when you’re away from home. |
2. ATM Hunter
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Taking full advantage of the iPhone’s location awareness technology, MasterCard’s ATM Hunter app can help you find the nearest ATM, wherever you roam. Perfect when you’re out and about in a new city and run out of cash! |
3. Bank of America Mobile Banking
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Let me be clear: I am not a fan of Bank of America. On the contrary, I am a huge advocate of local banks or, even better, credit unions.That said, if you’re stuck with BoA; the ability to get your banking done on your iPhone (or locate their nearest ATM) is pretty sweet. |
4. Tipulator
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Let’s face it: The tip calculator is not a new idea. (Remember those plastic, credit-card sized tip calculators with minuscule charts on them?) Let’s also admit it: Calculating a tip shouldn’t be that difficult for anybody that passed 8th grade math. Still, tip calculators are popular and they do come in handy (especially when splitting the Chinese food check five ways after one too many mai tais). And, when it comes to next generation tip calculators, Tipulator is the undisputed king of tip-calculating iPhone apps. |
5. E*Trade Mobile
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E*Trade revolutionized stock trading by allowing anybody with an internet connection to trade like they were on Wall Street. Now all you need is an iPhone! E*Trade Mobile lets you get quotes, track prices, see portfolios, and even execute trades right from your iPhone. |
6. BillMinder
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If you prefer to keep your finances off your iPhone but still need help remembering to pay your bills on time, BillMinder is the app for you. Track recurring bills, mark bills paid or unpaid, and manage payment information about your billers so you can easy send payments or contact them with questions. |
7. LoanShark
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With the LoanShark financial app on your iPhone, you’ll never succumb to a crappy loan again. LoanShark lets you calculate the actual costs of various loans, compare interest rates and repayment terms, and even see full amortization tables for various loan scenarios. LoanShark could really come in handy if you’re shopping for a new car loan or a mortgage. It could also be a great tool for mortgage brokers to show clients various loan scenarios. |
8. Bloomberg Mobile
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Bloomberg data is the drug of choice for Wall Street’s most dedicated traders. Now you can access real-time market headlines, stock quotes, and more from a taxi, an airport, or the beach. Just what you need to make the next perfect trade even when you’re away from the trading desk. (Of course, you don’t have to be a trading maniac to use this free, beautifully-designed app to simply keep a pulse on the market). Content continues below ↓ |
9. Pennies
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Need a simple way to track expenses without extraneous bells and whistles? Pennies is your app. Pennies performs its mission—recording your expenses—perfectly. You can set up a monthly budget and record your expenses as you spend money easily. And, it’s got a great design that’s consistent with Apple elegance. |
10. Save Benjis
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This is one must-have app. Actually, Save Benjis has garnered a lot attention for its ability to transform the way we spend. That’s because Save Benjis allows you to instantly compare prices on whatever your shopping for…right when you’re shopping. Forget your American Express Card. If there’s something you shouldn’t leave home without, it’s the Save Benjis app! |
11. DailyFinance
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DailyFinance is one of the most powerful iPhone apps for investors and market followers. Get free real-time stock quotes, real-time money news, track portfolios, and get sophisticated graphs and charts. Data auto-refreshes, so you’ll always have the most up-to-the-minute market intelligence at your fingertips. |
12. PocketMoney
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PocketMoney has been an award-winning personal finance application since 1994. Yes, there were pocket devices in 1994…remember the Apple Newton? I do; I guess that makes me old! PocketMoney for the iPhone lets you easily track expenses, set up budgets, and view charts of your spending. |
13. iBank3
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Okay, so iBank3 is more than just an iPhone app—it’s a full-feature, award-winning personal finance program for Macs. But it syncs with the iPhone, and it’s incredible. Why would you pay 60 bucks for functionality you can get for free with Mint? Speed, simplicity, and support. iBank3 has all three. |
14. Chase Finance
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Like Bank of America, Chase gets credit for helping lead the way in mobile banking. At least it’s one thing big banks are good at. With the Chase Mobile iPhone app you can track checking and credit card balances, make transfers, pay bills, contact customer service, and find ATMs. |
15. PayPal
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Need to send money to friends, family, vendors, or employees fast, securely, and on-the-go? PayPal Mobile is the answer. Track your PayPal account balance and send or request money anywhere, anytime. |
16: Quicken Online
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Okay, there’s a number 16! When I wrote this post, Quicken had not yet released an iPhone app for its awesome free budgeting tool Quicken Online. Less than a week later, they emailed me to let me know it’s out! I’ve started playing with it, and so far so good. Quicken Online Mobile syncs with Quicken Online to bring you combined account balances, transaction histories, and a forward-looking view of your finances. You can also search for your banks ATMs and update your budget on the go. |
What about you? What’s your favorite financial iPhone app?
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Perfect timing on this post!
I just got an iPhone the other day, and can really use some of these programs.
-Dan Malone-
I love mint.com. I don’t know if everyone has this issue, but transactions seem to take many days before they post and mint can see them. Also, it doesn’t seem like the mint iphone app will directly access your accounts like the website does. It seems the app only gets its information from mint.com, so if I haven’t logged in to mint.com for a while, the iphone app doesn’t get updated. Maybe mint.com will automatically access my accounts every so often without me logging in (and hence the iphone app gets updated information), or maybe I am checking on my finances far too frequently. Is daily too much?
That’s an interesting problem about Mint, Grant. It goes along with one of my biggest complaints about Mint.com…I get a weekly financial summary email that is always so out of date that it’s useless. The first few weeks I freaked out when I got it and had to immediately check directly with my banks to make sure the account balances Mint was showing me were wrong. Hopefully it’s something they’re working on…and hopefully they’ll find a way to update transactions when you log on via iPhone too!
+1 on the Quicken App…that’d be quite handy. I’d love the ability to tie it with the full-blown data from my home PC (not just the online “lite” version). Not quite sure how that’d be accomplished, but I can dream, right?
I love my bank’s iPhone app. I use USAA (my husband is military) and it’s fantastic. I can transfer funds, pay bills, check balances, etc. all from my phone. I’ve had my iPhone 3G for almost a year now and it’s probably the best investment I’ve ever made. I use it for pretty much everything. If I think, wow there should be an App for that…pretty soon there is! I love it!
Good to know, Tara! Chalk another one up for USAA. I hear nothing but GOOD things about every service USAA has to offer…course, they’re only available to military and families…but if you are one of the two…use them!!!
Some of those are weird: like LoanShark. Are you really so desperate for a loan that you need to have mobile access to a loan? Neat, maybe, but if you’re shopping around for a loan, doing it at your desktop probably makes more sense.
You might want to add Allpoint to this list it will save people Money since most of the MasterCard ATMs will charge fee’s. Over 1000 Banks and credit unions participate in Allpoint with over 35,000 in the US.
Search on the App store for Allpoint or click this link.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=307308511&mt=8
You guys missed PortfolioLive … easily the app I use most often on my iPhone. I checked it at the gas station, at the grocery store, at the doctor’s office. Nothing is faster, more stable or gives me a better view of my Portfolio of stocks. Real time data, unlimited portfolios, customizable views, multiple lots, and so easy to use. This one definitely should have been on there … I mean how many Tip calculators do you need?
You missed BudgetCare app for tracking personal expenses. It is really great and I recommended it you my fellows who use iPhone. It has great interface and it is very easy to use. I’ve put in all of my recent purchases and look at the pie charts and it give me a good overview of what I spent.
Hey Adam, David,
First, thanks for this roundup, David. When I saw it the other day I wanted so badly to let you know your wish would come true soon!
Check out Quicken Online Mobile, Quicken Online’s first native iPhone app. It’s now available for free in the App Store.
Here’s an early review: http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/30/quicken-online-strikes-back-at-mint-with-iphone-app/
Thanks,
Chelsea, Quicken Online
Fantastic! Thank you Chelsea…I’ll be checking that out!
A recently introduced finance App Dough is quite interesting.
Dough combines money management with Budget and Bill paying in an elegant easy to use interface.
Its a good choice for people not wanting to store their data online and find products like PocketMoney and SplashMoney hard to use.
http://dough.codebeyond.com has screenshots and details.
-Augustus
Am I missing something here? I’ve never found a way to request money on the PayPal iPhone app. Just send money.
Take a look at WealthCalc.. It calculates your wealth based on annual compound interest in several ways, yet very easy to use.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=335856099&mt=8
Hi David,
Maybe you’ve posted about it before, but what is it you have against Bank of America?
Adrienne, as for BofA, I just don’t see the benefit to them (or any really huge bank, for that matter) other than having branches everywhere.
My wife has BofA checking and every time she needs the smallest little thing done, it’s a huge process. Big wait on the phone, etc. In fact, she recently tried to change her name with them after we got married and, after 20 minutes on the phone, they seem to have forgotten. It’s been over a month and no new debit card, confirmation, etc.
Meanwhile, I’ve banked with a credit union and now, a small regional bank. They pick up the phone right away, every time, I can walk into a branch down the street and talk to a manager anytime. Their loan rates are lower, and they refund ANY ATM fee anywhere in the world.
So given the choice, I stay away from Bank of America.
David
I bank with Citibank (their iPhone app is actually pretty good) but I’m thinking about switching to a small local bank or credit union. Have you written or do you know of any good articles on what to look for, what the pros and cons are of going small?
Thanks
Mike
Hey Mike, You kind of inspired me to write up something new about why I recommend small banks and/or credit unions, here:
A Case for Small Banks and Credit Unions
Hope it’s helpful!
How can you not consider iCompta (http://www.lyricapps.com/iCompta/) ? Definitely the best pick among all the apps you reviewed. Many features, clean interface, easy to use, import/export and it has a FREE desktop application for MAC to synchronize with.
Um, iBank is made by IGG Software http://iggsoftware.com not Pullets Forever. Pullets Forever just did some contract work for IGG on the first version of iBank Mobile.
Stock Tracker Pro is the best app track portfolios:
http://www.app007.com/?page_id=563
it’s at all well known, but i use ‘balance forecasting’. you type in your bill and income and it computes what your future finances will look like. i have like 20 bills to pay each month, so this is really useful.