Finance

Microsoft is pushing out updates for its News, Maps, Travel, Sport and Finance apps on Windows 8. Numerous features have been included in the latest releases, so what's new for consumers?

Quiz time. What makes me and the rest of the crew at Windows Phone Central happy? Hint. It probably makes you ecstatic too. The answer? Any single time we get a new app on the platform or an app gets an update. It’s a situation that you can’t help but channel your inner Sheen and shout ‘winning’. Today we win by getting E*TRADE to update and support a few features of Windows Phone 8.

While we have a decent number of banking apps available for our Windows Phone.  You have Chase Mobile, Bank of America, the National Australian Bank, Rabobank and the more the merrier. I would appear that ING Bank is about to join the crowd with their own Windows Phone app this Spring.

In an email correspondence shared by one of our readers, ING has confirmed that a Windows Phone mobile banking app is in development. While details weren't shared on the features of such app, it is expected to be available mid-April.

Good news for ING customers and hopefully more financial institutions will follow suit (hint, hint Regions!). There's a Windows Phone Central Forums discussion going on here if you care to talk it up about the pending ING banking app.

Thanks, Prophecy, for the tip!

The need to manage your finances is common and your Windows Phone can help you keep track of your expenses, earnings, and other financial tasks. This weeks roundup focuses on financial apps that are available in the Windows Phone Store.

To help save a little, we chose the top five free financial apps for the roundup and they include banking apps, a stock management app, and a personal budget manager. As always with our roundups, these apps only scratch the surface on what is available at the Windows Phone Store. If you have a favorite financial oriented app that isn't in this week's roundup, feel free to recommend it in the comments below.

One of the new features with Windows Phone 8 is the Wallet app. Microsoft has added a digital wallet that you can use to keep your debit, credit, loyalty and membership card information handy on your Windows Phone.

The Wallet app also has the ability to find other apps to link with that can provide additional information on that card or account such as balance and transaction history. Wallet can also be used to find and share local shopping deals.

Account Tracker from Graham Haley and Response Ltd. is now live in the Windows Phone Store.  Account Tracker is a personal finance app that has had a bit of success over on the iPhone and based on our first impressions it should do well on the Windows Phone platform.

Account Tracker is laid out nicely taking advantage of the panorama and tile design of the Windows Phone's Modern UI. The main pages of Account Tracker will display an account summary of all your financial accounts, a transaction entry screen with tiles to add spending, income, refund and transfer activities, a budgets page and pages that will chart cash flow and spending.

Good news for Chase banking customers. The Chase Mobile app is heading to the Windows Phone Store to join other banking apps such as the Bank of America app, and the National Australian Bank app.

With Chase Mobile you will be able to monitor your accounts, transfer funds between accounts, make deposits using Chase's QuickDeposit (where you take the picture of your check to deposit it), send wire transfers, pay bills, and search for a local Chase Bank or ATM location. You can even monitor account alerts for payments and set balance levels.

Account Tracker from Graham Haley and Response Ltd. is a personal finance app that has experienced a respectable amount of success over on the iPhone and iOS.  Account Tracker was recently submitted for certification in the Windows Phone Store. The developers are hoping that Account Tracker will have similar success in the Windows Phone Store.

We were given a sneak peak at the app and based on our first impressions, we don't see why Account Tracker won't be a popular choice for tracking your personal finances from your Windows Phone.

According to Seeking Alpha who have managed to calculate an estimation as to just how much Microsoft has made from Windows Phone in the last fiscal year, the software giant is estimated to be looking at $736 million from the mobile division. While we're still on the steady growth path Microsoft will continue to shield revenue performance of the platform until there's something to frame on the office wall.

Seeking Alpha worked out that by removing each non-Windows Phone layer from Microsoft's EDD (Entertainment and Devices Division), they found Windows Phone revenues has been fairly steady over the past few years, since its launch in 2010.