PNC Bank's Virtual Wallet- the Future of Mobile Banking?

Image courtesy of AppScout.com

Between iOS and Android platforms, banking and finance applications seem rather standard, sticking for the most part to the basic online banking functions adapted to a mobile device. Today we’re taking a look at three applications relating to the topic that have made people’s life significantly easier. The first app is PNC’s Virtual Wallet application. Seemingly the most innovative of all proprietary bank applications, the PNC Virtual Wallet application gives us a glimpse at the future of mobile banking. The application is free on Apple’s App Store and is available for use to any PNC Virtual Wallet customer. PNC Bank has taken an interesting approach towards mobile banking with this application, going above and beyond standard banking applications. To begin, the Virtual Wallet app features a calendar view that allows the user to get organized financially. One can toggle back and forth between a daily, weekly, and monthly view of any funds presently spent or to be spent in the future. The calendar allows the user to view balances, past activities, and upcoming payments. Using push notifications, the calendar feature allows the user to receive bill reminders even if they are not presently using the application itself. The Virtual Wallet application synchronizes in real-time with a superb matching web-based application offered by PNC. A customer is able to perform a one-time setup of their respective bills, and subsequently pay their bills directly from their phone. This allows for bills to pay automatically, saving customers valuable time otherwise spent on regular mail procedures. As described by the bank, the “Money Bar” feature gives customers a “high definition view of [their] finances.” The bar allows you to easily transfer funds from a “Scheduled Out” account (or spend account), a “Free” account (money available after bills are paid and prior to the arrival of your next paycheck) and a “Reserve” account (savings). Altogether, PNC’s Virtual Wallet application is a hit and an exemplary display of what mobile banking should look like.

The second application is the Yahoo! Finance app, now available for iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices. The application allows the financial market observer to follow Wall Street from the palm of his/her hand. The user is able to customize the application, sorting by market or company and tracking any changes by price, percentage, or market cap. It is a rather straightforward application with easy navigation menus and no distracting bells and whistles. The application directly synchronizes with the Yahoo! finance website, allowing the user to make changes from any internet terminal and immediately noticing said change on the mobile platform.

image courtesy of AppCraver.com

Lastly, the personal finance application I’ve found most useful, particularly for the budget-minded individual, is called iXpenseit. Ideally, the iXpenseit user is one on a quest to detail personal expenditures over a certain period of time. It is a user driven cashflow management tool that allows the user to input a series of data regarding income and expenses. The application takes care of organizing this data into different subcategories (gas, food, personal expenses, business expenses, etc) and then displaying a much more organized view of where funds come from/go to. Whether in a pie chart, bar graph, or report form, iXpenseit shows a very clear view of all the data submitted by the user. As a college student, I have particularly found this application helpful as it allows me to see where I’ve been spending (or wasting) some of my money, and areas where my spending could improve. Over the course of the past year, it has most certainly made me a wiser and more conscious consumer. It isn’t one of the most well-known personal finance applications available right now, but I do think it can have a similar effect on any user with the dedication to keep it updated.

Mobile Devices...and your Car?

Photo courtesy of blog.chryslerllc.com

You heard it. Automakers are turning to smartphones to further enable productivity and interaction between you and your vehicle. From the very basic like Chrysler putting your users manual in the palm of your hand in the way of its iOS app, to the more complex-like Audi allowing you to measure your car's fuel performance, smartphones are surely making their way into the very basic infrastructure of your vehicle.

Smartphones are becoming an extension of the vehicle as we know it. They're far more useful than electronic features built into the car as web-based applications are much easier to update and it's more difficult for them to become outdated. They allow the driver to stay in touch while IN the vehicle, but also allow him/her to access data about the car while away from it. Take GM, for example. Their iOS OnStar application allows drivers to remotely start their car from their mobile device. The app also allows the driver to remotely lock, unlock, flash headlights, and honk your horn; things we've all wished we'd been able to do at some point in our lives when trying to find our cars in a crowded lot.

Audi is taking the automotive smartphone development to a whole new level with their latest CarMonitor application. This invention allows the driver to plug in his/her smartphone into the car's OBD II port on the dashboard to allow the phone to communicate with the car's engine computer, enabling the driver to track important fuel performance data among other statistics. Audi is taking the social networking approach and allowing the driver to upload the data onto the web to allow them to compare their statistics with those of other Audi users. Knowing how competitive the automotive world is, it is difficult not to picture just about any automaker to soon adopt this technological model with their newest releases.  This kind of invention allows the user to have at least some sort of control over their vehicle's performance, knowing when something may be going wrong and in need of repair. Personally, I've always felt uneasy about paying so much money for vehicle maintenance and repairs but not knowing much at all about the topic, I've always left it up to those who do it for a living, even if they've been known to make some things up here and there to make a bigger buck.

Photo courtesy of caradvice.com.au

With these developments, it is evident that smartphones are moving into yet another area of our everyday lives that we might not have thought possible before. With automotive and mobile technology increasing so rapidly, it is imperative for automakers to find a way in which to interlock the two technologies. From an economic perspective, it is important for them to find a way to allow mobile technology to prevent their automotive technology from becoming outdated. An automobile presents a hefty investment for most consumers. If automakers can find a way to take this model and further incorporate smartphone technology into their vehicles, I can most definitely foresee a big initiative from most brands forming partnerships with smartphone firms in an attempt to give the user some more control over his/her vehicle.