SplashMoney Personal Finance Manager for BlackBerry Smartphones Review

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So fact of the matter is, I will never be confused with a CPA or give classes on money management. I have yet to look at my check book register since the lady at the bank wrote the beginning balance…that was almost 11 years ago when I was 18! Luckily I have a job that keeps a nice cushion in my bank account and I never really worry about balancing my account…hope my wife doesn’t read this :o)

Having said that I have always wanted to carry my check book with me to keep tabs, I just hate the whole pencil and paper gig. So what better way to do this than on my BlackBerry that is never more than an arms length away. SplashMoney by SplashData makes this all possible.

When approached by Kevin over at SplashData I was very excited to give this app a try, especially since everything I do is with a debit card and I never write anything down. So after a quick download of the application, which by the way can be done over-the-air directly onto your device or on your PC, I linked up my “fun money” account (I use this for games, golf, sporting events, etc).

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After a 2-week hassle with my bank to activate Direct Connect on my online account, set up was a breeze. Just for clarification purposes, Direct Connect is the service that MS Money or Quicken use to download account transaction data into their software and SplashMoney utilizes the same technology.  Setting up the online portion of the account again was very simple; enable online access, choose your bank, fill-in the user ID and password that is normally used for online account access, and just select the account you need. Again while this seems mind numbingly simple some banks do not allow this type of application to access your online account, that is when you need to call them and have them activate Direct Connect on your account, some banks may charge a fee for this service and in my case Huntington Bank charges a $2.99 monthly fee for this service. Now on to actually using the app!

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So this is where the app earns it stripes to me, when you open the application it shows you summary screen with all of your accounts, or in my case account.  I like that the app has the ability to track many different accounts in one place, I hate having to navigate 5 different websites to check my accounts and balances. SplashMoney gives me the ability to track all my accounts from one place and save tons of time, and from playing with the app for a while you are able to add different types from simple checking to money market and line of credit accounts. Again any application that that has the ability to save me time by giving me this much info in one place is off to a great start. Now you may be saying to yourself, “ok so it logs transactions, so what”, SplashMoney doesn’t stop there.

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SplashMoney also gives me the ability to track transactions in categories such as dining, utilities, clothing, and that’s just naming a few on the list of available options. By doing this I am also able to see my spending trends and see where my money is going, all provided by the reports that SplashMoney creates.

SplashMoney makes this all very simplistic by pulling transactions directly from your online account, though you do have to prompt the app to do so. The app also gives you the opportunity to review each and every transaction before it is added to your register.

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SplashMoney also gives you the ability to create and monitor a budget by tracking spending categories that are assigned to each transaction. All of these tools make SplashMoneya very powerful app for any BlackBerry user. I have dozens of different apps on my BB and to be completely honest that has to be one of my favorite. The ease of use and ability to track multiple different accounts make this app top notch…the fact that you can graph and chart and pull directly from your online account put SplashMoney over the top. While we here at Gear Diary don’t necessarily have a rating system for reviews, if we did I would definitely rate SplashMoney 5 Gears! In my opinion it is a must have app for any BB user.

What I Like:ease of use, online access, charts, fully encrypted security, custimization, one-click access to all accounts.

What I don’t like: Some banks may require a fee for online connectivity, price.

MSRP: $29.95

SplashMoney can be purchased directly from the SplashData Website, or you can get it for 15% off at the Gear Diary Store, with the code GDFallTweets.

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Gear Diary Staff
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