With Quicken Online, the iPhone is so money

There is a new breed of personal financial management applications that don’t require you to be an accountant in order use them. Sites like Wasabe and Mint are targeted to younger people that don’t need advanced features and are just looking for an easy-to-use system to view and manage their finances while getting advice along the way. Both of these web apps are great in their own way, but each lack mobile access for iPhone and iPod touch. On January 8th, Intuit comes to the rescue with the release of Qucken Online, a simplified version of their desktop software that features an optimized interface for the iPhone.

What makes this so exciting? Imagine using your iPhone as a register for checks and credit card expenses. Tap in your expenses as you make them and this gets reflected in your Quicken Online account instantly. This is extremely handy for shared accounts where multiple users need to see actual financial positions in real-time, instead of what the bank happens to know about at that time. Intuit also plans to integrate Quicken Online with TurboTax next year (for the 2008 tax year), a move that will assure this web app the top position among its competitors.

Quicken Online connects to your bank accounts and credit cards to give you a picture of your cash flow, and it knows how to connect to over 5,000 banks and credit card institutions. Online bill payment services will not be included in the launch but will be added in future updates. The service does detect which of your expenses are bills, then sends reminder alerts by email or SMS before those bills are due.

Access to Quicken Online is priced at $2.99 per month (after a 30-day trial). Sign up for the beta today at www.quickenonline.com.

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