Those of us who are truly irresponsible with money need mobile finance apps for our phones. Just like we need push updates from Facebook and Groupon, we need push updates from an app telling us that our phone bill is due in two days. I need someone to tell me when to stop spending my money on collectible plates and porcelain hummel figurines before I risk overdrafting my account.
For all your personal finance needs, there’s Pageonce, a mobile finance app that announced Wednesday that it has closed a $15 million round of funding led by Morgenthaler Ventures, with participation from previous investors Pitango Ventures and Chairman of the board Liron Petrushka. This round brings Pageonce’s total funding to $25 million.
Launched in 2008, Pageonce is one of the top five finance apps for iPhone and currently has 4.5 million registered users worldwide. In some ways the service is similar to Mint, but it has more of a budgeting focus, while Mint takes more of an overall accounting focus. The app allows you to add your bank account, credit cards, bills, investments, and more to allow you to track your expenses and see where your money is going. Additionally, the app updates you with alerts when something about your bank account has changed, and the app features articles and tips on how to save money (one states the obvious: don’t go out to a bar, invite your friends over for dinner instead).
The point is: people don’t balance their checkbooks anymore, as Morgenthaler partner Rebecca Lynn pointed out to me. “People need to be reminded when their bills are due,” said Lynn, who said that she first became interested in Pageonce when former GM of Yahoo’s Finance division Steve Schultz left Yahoo to join Pageonce as the company’s new COO. Lynn had been following Schultz and when he made the move, she took a closer look at Pageonce and liked what she saw.
“Lots of companies have built upon the promise of the mobile wallet, but very few have delivered on that promise,” said Lynn. “Pageonce is delivering. Right now they’ve got the features and functionality to do it, and they’ve built out the backend themselves, which gives them a lot of flexibility in which way they want to take the company.”
Pageonce currently tracks some $556 billion in transactions, $55 billion in assets, and $30 billion worth of bills annually. The app is available for free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, and the Web.
“We’re working to transform the smartphone into the Wallet of the Future, and the funding is helping to fuel our vision,” said Guy Goldstein, CEO of Pageonce, in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with Morgenthaler, a firm with four decades of experience building successful companies like Apple, VeriFone and NexTag.”
Image source: Pageonce.com
