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Keep more of your hard-earned money, and avoid those late fees with the BillTracker savings app. Have you ever forgotten something important because you were distracted? Missing payment deadlines and due dates is expensive, in more ways than one. Most companies charge late fees when bills aren’t paid on time. Not a big deal, right? But that $35 could have gone toward dinner with a friend, or a movie. Over time these late payments also impact your credit score, making it harder to get loans. Some lenders even increase interest rates on revolving credit lines when a borrower’s FICO score goes down.
What Is the BillTracker App?
The BillTracker savings app is an iOS app, built by SnapTap. The most recent release, version 2.2, came out in 2015. The Lite version is free, and the regular version costs $2 and removes the ads. It has two language options, Spanish and English, and it works on iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.
One of the most important aspects of any app is its user-interface. BillTracker has a calendar view that allows users to see in an instant the entire month’s due dates. It also features scrollable panels that allow the user to view their bill payment history and the detailed account information for each upcoming bills.
It has sorting and organizational features that group accounts under custom headings such as credit cards and utilities. From this area, users can drill-down into account histories. It includes useful sorting options that allow records to be ordered by amount paid, amount due, due date or paid/unpaid status.
We Liked the BillTracker Savings App Because…
This is a great financial tool because it’s easy to use, but has a lot of useful features. Getting recurring bills set up is very straight forward. The “plus” icon in the top corner opens up the panel to enter a new account. This makes tracking recurring bills and one-time expenses very easy.
The BillTracker savings app has a clean, uncluttered interface which is very user-friendly. The “Upcoming” icon on the bottom status bar has a color-coded visual reminder for bills that are coming due, and for the ones that are past due. The other icons on this status bar include “Calendar”, “Accounts” and “Settings.”
Another nice visual design feature is the ability to switch between calendar views that filter paid and unpaid bills. These appear as green and red dots on their due date.
If that isn’t enough to keep you on track, the BillTracker savings app also features programmable due date reminders. We were able to set these several days in advance of certain bill’s actual due dates. This will definitely come in handy for larger payments that need extra money to be transferred out of interest-bearing accounts. We also set reminders for bills that come up quarterly, such as auto insurance, taxes, and water bills, since those are easy to forget.
Our favorite thing is the interface scrolling panel which not only shows which bills are “Due Soon” and “Due in the Next 30 Days,” but also shows the amounts due and the grand total just below the line items. We were able to set categories for specific bills, like electricity, to easily track usage over time. And, after we’ve paid a bill, we can easily input the amount, date paid and confirmation number for record-keeping.
Not So Sure About…
Unfortunately, the BillTracker savings app is not available for Android devices, which limits the market for the developer. Also, the Lite version has ads. They’re very small and unobtrusive ads, but they’re still ads. For $2, you can upgrade and that will remove them.
Based on the overall quality of this app, we believe the developers have earned that money. There isn’t much to say against this app. Some people have mentioned that the latest version phased out their favorite features, or changed the display making it difficult to navigate on their devices.
Some similar apps have the ability to interface with a few select companies to obtain the user’s current billing information. That capability has its own pros and cons. There may be additional security concerns both for the user’s device and the network connection. On the other hand, having a breakdown of a credit bill in the app would be very useful to keep track of spending.
A different bill tracking app offers a calendar layout that shows the bill’s details at the bottom of the screen, so the user doesn’t have to navigate anywhere to get the company’s name and total amount due. This feature would be helpful in the BillTracker savings app. Perhaps the developers can include it in the next version roll-out.
Online Reviews Say That…
Some useful features have been phased out of the recent version of the BillTracker savings app. They also mention that there’s room for improvement in certain areas. However, there are over 11,000 ratings, and the most recent version of the app is still earning 4+ overall.
One reviewer pointed out that besides the basic features that all bill tracking apps share, push notifications are essential. Fortunately, BillTracker does include that feature. So, users will receive reminders even when the app is closed.
A couple of reviewers have noted that some of the advanced features of BillTracker, such as the detailed payment history, are difficult to navigate through. It compared unfavorably with another app’s two-step process.
Most reviewers seem to agree that the color-coded “Upcoming Bills” panel is easy to interpret and well thought out.
Conclusion
We can see how this app would be tremendously useful for an entrepreneur who might be juggling ongoing personal and company accounts. Or anyone who needs to stay ahead of their bills. The consequences of just a few late payments include lowered credibility and trust with lenders, a lower credit rating, and the accumulated cost of the late fees, which can add up quickly. In fact, an “annual late fee summary” might be a useful feature to add in future versions of BillTracker.
The BillTracker savings app does deliver what it advertises in a reliable, nicely-styled interface. If you’ve installed this app, let us know what you were expecting from it and how it has worked out for you.
