Get bank balance with Quicken Beam

Finally, something free from Intuit, the Mountain View, Calif., software company that takes our money every tax season.

Intuit has launched Quicken Beam, a text-messaging service to help people keep track of how much money is left in the bank. The company is pitching this to people who tend to get overdrawn. With many banks charging overdraft fees upwards of $30, this free little tool could really help avoid overspending (though text-messaging fees apply).

It works on any cell phone or mobile device (iPhones too) because it relies on text messaging.

After you register various bank and credit card accounts (you do have to hand over this private information), you dial 636363 to get your checking-account balance and then type in "BAL" or other abbreviation.

That's it! No data entry, no login screen, no Web browser needed.

You can also set up alerts in case the balance drops below a certain point or credit-card spending gets out of whack.

Of course, this is not totally new.

Bank of America offers a mobile service to check balances, but you'll need a phone with a Web browser. Wells Fargo has a text service. AT&T offers a banking service free to its customers.

The Quicken Beam service is just one option that is free, text-based and not limited to one financial institution.

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Š 2008, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).
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