• by Judy Warner , February 1, 2007

As part of its drive to deliver innovative banking products, Bank of America yesterday launched a suite of money management tools for its online banking customers that for some could make budgeting, saving and tax planning simpler.

Anyone who has ever tried to download bank statements to a financial management software program such as Quicken or Quickbooks may be relieved to know that is no longer necessary.

"This is a simple and easy way for consumers to get more control over their finances without manually transferring or downloading information," said Sanjay Gupta, who heads up ecommerce at BofA.

The free tools are available to online banking customers under their "My Portfolio" tab. One feature allows customers to link their BofA accounts with those of other financial companies including credit cards, rewards programs and investments. Customers need only look in one place online to see both income and expenses. Online customers can also create customized reports or specify expenditures as medical, personal or business for tax purposes, sort transactions by account, category or date, and view transactions for time frames ranging from one week for up to 12 months.

Marketing efforts are aimed primarily at current online banking customers, which BofA says now number more than 21 million active users. Consumer messaging will be directed through the Bank of America Web site and search engines, according to BofA spokesperson Betty Reiss.

The BofA product release coincided yesterday with the results of a survey commissioned by Bankrate to assess consumer attitudes toward budgeting and spending. The national random-digit-dialed phone study of 1,014 adults 18 or older was conducted for Bankrate by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media in December and was weighted by demographic factors to include age, gender, race, education and census region to ensure an accurate representation of adults in U.S. households.

Nine out of 10 respondents said it is "essential" or "very important" to have a monthly budget--and for a nation of spenders, not savers, it's almost surprising to learn that three-quarters of those also claimed to have a monthly budget.

Senior citizens were a little less likely than those age 18 to 64 to say budgeting is essential or important (83% of seniors compared to 91% of everyone else).

Low-income people were the least likely to say budgeting is essential or very important (88%), and respondents making between $25,000 and $50,000 were the most likely to say budgeting was essential or very important (94%).

While men and women agreed equally that budgeting is important to achieving financial goals, 80% of women say they do an excellent or good job of living within their household budget, compared to 69% of men.