Consumers yearning to track and analyze their credit card spending to the smallest degree with graphs, comparisons with past months and even with their peers are in luck.
Citigroup Inc. on Tuesday announced an upgrade to its online banking application for Apple Inc.'s iPad that includes what Citi says is the first such robust iPad credit card account-analysis application.
Building on the iPad online-banking app Citi introduced in July, the latest version touts a departure from a ledger-style display by providing users with the option to create customizable graphs and charts and extending those functions to 20 million Citi credit card customers. (The app is not compatible with Citi's private-label retail partner cards, a Citi representative says.)
Other app improvements include the ability to see both the front and back sides of check images and a platform for users to send articles and information from within the app to friends through social media and email.
"Citi cardholders can now use the iPad to analyze their spending habits and compare spending and financial goals with customizable graphs and charts," Tracey Weber, Citi's head of Internet and mobile banking for North America consumer banking, said in a press release.
It comes as no surprise that credit card-analysis tools are joining the parade of interactive options for consumers, analysts say.
"An iPad application is supplemental to all the other 'touch points' a consumer has to manage their credit card and banking relationships," says Madeline Aufseeser, a senior analyst with Aite Group. "I fully expect all the major institutions to be able to support all the various communication devices that are on the market."
