10 Must-See Finance Apps for the iPhone

by Nicholas Kolakowski

Name: Bloomberg MobileCost: FreeThis App delivers news, stock quotes, analysis, price charts and company descriptions—basically, much of the same functionality available to Bloomberg users. The mobile version supports 11 languages (including Ukrainian and Chinese), lets you see expanded versions of charts by rotating your iPhone and lets you follow a customized list of stocks.

FreeSmall and growing businesses based primarily on the Web often utilize PayPal for their financial transactions. This App allows users to send money to their vendors or contacts while on the road, check their PayPal balances and review their transaction histories. Some 16 different currencies are supported in this version.

$0.99As the enterprise becomes more global, mobile workers can just as easily find themselves in Tokyo as Kansas City. To that end, this App provides up-to-date exchange rate information for 61 currencies. U.S. dollars don’t need to be used as the base currency, and physically flipping the iPhone will reverse the currency conversion on the screen.

FreeSalesforce.com users can utilize this App to complete expense reports and then send them wirelessly to Salesforce CRM. The newest update includes international currency support and lets users take an image of the relevant receipt with the iPhone’s built-in camera and send it along with the report.

FreeThis App automatically syncs with the user’s online bank accounts, allowing users to track their budgets and manage cash even while on the road. Users can look at income versus expenses, check balances, review purchases and monthly budgets, and even check on the performance of retirement accounts. If you lose your iPhone, access to the accounts can be deactivated in one click from your Mint.com profile page.

$1.99The “fun App” in this list, Moneypedia shows off the world’s banknotes in colorful format and supplements that with information about each bill. Search operates by a currency’s name, value or country of origin.

FreeYou can access financial and business news on the iPhone version of The New York Times via this App; a customizable tool bar allows financial mavens to access any finance-world updates they need more quickly. Articles and photos can also be made available offline.

$4.99This App provides much of the same expense-tracking and recording functionality as Expense2GO, only it isn’t necessary to be a Salesforce.com user. Features include records export, expense summary, one-time setup for recurring expenses, graphical reports, password protection, text search and world currency list. Also available in a free “Lite” version that limits the user to 10 expense records.

$0.99This App allows the user to calculate interest rates, payments per year and number of payments, and see everything in a graphical format. You can also compare one loan against another.

$0.99Business dinners and lunches are a part of life. To that end, CheckPlease lets you calculate tips, round up either the tip or the bill, switch to another currency, and not tip on the tax. There’s also a free version (CheckPlease Lite) that includes an ad banner.