The Best New Savings Apps for Your Phone
Several years ago, entrepreneur Yaron Samid noticed a fraudulent charge on his credit card. When he investigated, he found that it had actually been a recurring charge, added to his monthly bill, that he had been paying without even realizing it. He also discovered that other people posted online about the same charge, and he wasn't the first person to be surprised by it.
His tech background inspired him to start thinking about how people could share information about such fraudulent charges to help protect each other. That concept led him to create BillGuard, an app that has been used by more than 1 million people worldwide since it launched in July 2013. "The [app] is helping people make sure they're only paying for what they should be," says BillGuard spokeswoman Marina Boykis.
BillGuard is one of several apps to hit the market recently with the goal of protecting your finances and saving you money. Other popular ones reduce your parking expenses, help you track spending and help you find discounts and coupons. Here's an overview of some of the most popular apps, which are all available for both iOS and Android, and how they work:
1. BillGuard. The BillGuard app, using bank-level security, pulls all your transactions from various accounts, and flags ones that might be erroneous, including duplicate charges that have been flagged by other users. You can flag a charge and dispute it with a company directly through the app. When a retailer faces a data breach, BillGuard alerts you if you shopped at the store during the period of the incident.
The app saves people money, Boykis says, because most people quickly skim their account statements -- if they review them at all -- which makes it easy to miss errors. Last year, BillGuard flagged more than $70 million in suspicious charges. "This puts you in control of your money and helps you fight back, especially given all the data breaches. ... We often think banks will catch fraud for us, but if you don't catch it, no one catches it. You just pay for it," Boykis says.
2. Key Ring. This app lets you store your rewards card numbers on your phone so you don't end up missing out on discounts because you forgot your reward card. "It lets you throw away all of the discount cards taking up space on your physical key ring," says Lisa Koivu, contributor to the U.S. News Frugal Shopper blog and founder of ShopGirlDaily.com. "Now, since I always have my phone, I always have my discount cards."
Koivu says she uses the app most at CVS, which also lets you load coupons onto your discount card online. On a recent trip, she saved 20 percent off her entire purchase with the coupons and card discounts. "I saved a ton without needing to remember to take anything with me other than my phone," she says.
3. Retailers' apps. If you have a store you frequent often, then check to see if is has an app, because it could save you money on products you're buying anyway. Koivu recommends the Target Cartwheel app and Shop Your Way app for Sears and Kmart, which offer exclusive discounts to shoppers.
According to the digital platform developer Apigee, which counts Target as one of its customers, last year the amount of time Target customers spent browsing and shopping Target through mobile devices more than doubled compared to the previous year. Target also found that customers who use the Cartwheel app end up visiting stores more frequently and spending 30 percent more per trip when they're there -- which means shoppers also have to take care that all the discounts aren't leading them to buy more than they intended.
4. Gift cards apps. These apps, including GoWallet and Gyft, help keep you from ever forgetting or losing a gift card again. You can upload your cards onto the app and use it to track and redeem them. Like the Key Ring app, it lets you save even when traveling lightly, without all your cards.
5. RetailMeNot. This app means you never have to clip coupons out of Sunday circulars again. Instead, this app collects coupon codes for you, and lets you save your favorite stores for easier tracking. The best part is you don't have to save a paper coupon at all. At checkout, just show the code on your phone to snag the deal. RetailMeNot reports that on average, shoppers saved almost $30 per purchase with the app between last Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
6. Ebates. This app gives shoppers cash back for purchases and recently started offering users even better deals one Monday every month, dubbed Mobile Monday. The app lets shoppers earn cash back at more than 1,800 retailers, compare prices and track deals. Shoppers can get as much as 20 percent cash back on their Mobile Monday purchases.
7. ParkWhiz. If parking is eating up a big chunk of your monthly budget, then the ParkWhiz app could be what you need to cut costs. It makes it easy to search -- and reserve -- nearby off-street parking. Available in 150 cities nationwide, it also offers discounts on garage parking (as well as open-air lots) and even find spots from private homeowners who have open spots available. "We work with parking providers to offer our drivers exclusive discounts only available through the service, sometimes up to 60 percent," says ParkWhiz spokesman Mason Pain, who uses the app to lock in a low monthly parking rate for his own commute. Around 1.5 million people have already used the app.
Depending on your shopping and driving habits, one of these apps could probably help you save -- and help meet your financial goals for the year.
