Managing your money is as easy as an app

No wonder people are banking more on their smartphones. It’s just too easy to take a picture of a check with a camera phone, push a couple of buttons and, voila, the money is in their account.

Nearly 45 million people used mobile-banking services last year as more people became comfortable with using mobile apps to control their finances, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan in California.

Mobile banking was introduced in 2007, about the time smartphones hit the market. Major banks in the United States began offering apps that allowed consumers to transfer funds, check balances, make bill payments and look up branch locations from their mobile devices.

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Apps now are more sophisticated and can do more, including depositing checks. Hundreds of financial and personal-banking apps are available in the Apple App Store, the Android Market and BlackBerry App World.

Many banks offer apps to help customers manage specific portions of their finances.

NerdWallet.com, a personal finance website that claims to help consumers make money decisions, provides a top 10 list of personal-finance and mobile-banking apps that are among the best-selling or most downloaded apps. They are listed in alphabetical order:

• Budget Boss: This personal-finance app lets you compare scenarios and assign categories to help sort out expenses and budgets. Developed by Finnoggin for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, it costs 99 cents at the Apple App Store.

• Budgt: This iOS app is designed for students and people living on a shoestring. It helps users save money while offering daily and monthly budget snapshots based on present finances. It also has an “oops” feature, so you can go back and add in previously overlooked expenses and income.

• Expensify: People who do a lot of traveling or business entertaining often are required to record expenses to be reimbursed. Expensify lets users import credit card transactions, take photos of receipts and categorize transactions. This free app works with Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone.

• Goodbudget: This app lets users sync and share mobile or online bill management with family members. Virtual envelopes are used to update balances and track spending. The basic version is free, while a more feature-rich model, the Plus, costs $5 per month or $45 a year. It’s compatible with Android phones and iPhones and can be used over the Internet.

• iBank: This Mac-specific app tracks bank and investment accounts with emphasis on goals. Create budgets and reports, and connect with your bank. It costs $60 to download, and convenience enhancements are available for a price.

• Level Money: This free app tracks spending with day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month data, helping you visualize personal financial goals. Founded in 2012 and recently purchased by banking giant Capital One, Level Money also offers tips on spending and tidying up accounts at the end of each month. It’s compatible with both Apple- and Android-powered devices.

• Mint: This free app lets you look in real-time at all your account balances using a smartphone. You can set up alerts for when bills are due or for when your spending is about to breach preset limits. It’s compatible with Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

• MoneyWise: This one helps map where the money goes. You can use colorful graphs and charts to check monthly budget goals. Special features on this app for Android devices include tagging transactions, labeling expenses and importing or exporting data in HTML or CSV formats. The basic version is free while an upgraded app costs $7.

• Spendee: If you frequently wonder what you’re spending on and where, Spendee can tell you. As you add new transactions, it has graphs and a feed of updates that reflect them. It also offers users tips and encouragement. This free app is for Android phones.

• YNAB: This app links users on the same accounts via their mobile devices and computers. The app lets you break account balances and spending into categories. It also has a Cloud Sync feature that integrates across different platforms. YNAB is compatible with Android, iPhone and computer operating systems. It costs $60.

But like all things e-money, there are risks. A recent study published by San Francisco-based cyber security firm RiskIQ revealed that more than 11 percent of mobile-banking apps include harmful code such as adware, malware or spyware.

Doug Storum can be reached at 303-630-1959, 970-416-7369 or dstorum@bizwestmedia.com.