Rand down: 3 apps to keep tabs on SA’s financial news

The South African rand isn’t doing well today. In the midst of finance minster Pravin Gordhan’s summoning over the SARS “rogue unit”, the national currency has tanked around 4% of its value against the US Dollar since the day began.

While you may be on the road, frantically trying to find a television to see the news unfold, you don’t really have to. Thankfully, the most popular mobile platforms have a slew of apps available for you to monitor the financial news emanating from South Africa, and beyond.

Here are three great picks for Android, iOS and Windows 10.

Currency FX

About as simple as an app can get, Handy App’s Currency FX tallies the value of currencies from around the globe, and allows users to compare said values of each. Unlike most apps, there’s one primary page with the settings hidden away in a side panel. Users can adjust how often the app fetches new information, anything from 24 hours to a minute.

It’s also incredibly lightweight, making it perfect for secondary or slower devices.

Download for Android.

MSN Money

Microsoft’s app is a little more complicated. Giving users the option to view financial news from a number of sources, check stock values of individual companies and global bourses and currency exchange rates, it’s a more complete financial app suite.

You can track the value of the rand even if you’re on the go, thanks to these three apps

As it’s a Redmond-developed app, it boasts some Windows 10-inspired styling, with a top menu layout and a persistant search bar atop that. It also has a Watchlist feature, so if you’d like to keep tabs on the JSE and Dollar/Rand exchange rate, you can.

Download for Android and iOS. MSN Money is also available as a Windows 10 app.

Investing.com

Probably the prettiest financial app on Android, Investing’s own app is effectively the website in pocket form. Users can access data in near real-time, be it stock exchanges or exchange rates, while keeping tabs on breaking global news.

And thankfully, for those who enjoy using their devices at night (or on red-eye flights), the app also boasts a night mode.

Download for Android and iOS.

Of course, there are a slew of apps available out there, so be sure to let us know in the comments section what you use to keep tabs on the world’s markets and currencies.

Feature image: warrenski via Flickr