IGG Software has released iBank 5, a full-version upgrade to its popular money management program for Mac OS X. Among dozens of new features and improvements, iBank 5 delivers improved importing of bank transactions, enhanced budgets, better investment support, and online bill pay.

The app also offers automatic account updates via Direct Access, IGG’s exclusive service for bank connections worldwide. IGG President Ian Gillespie says iBank 5 will connect to most major U.S. banks from within the app, allowing users to schedule and send payments, track those transactions and categorize the expenses, all with easy in-app set-up and a few simple clicks.

An Update Everything button on the iBank 5 toolbar imports all transactions from directly connected accounts, syncs devices, updates securities prices, and downloads current Direct Access data. Even users with many accounts, diverse investments and finances in multiple currencies may never have to enter another transaction manually, says Gillespie.

IGG’s exclusive subscription service for automatically updating transactions in all accounts was introduced last year with iBank for iPad. Now available in iBank 5, it connects to over 10,000 banks worldwide. In addition, a single Direct Access account allows subscribers to sync that data between iBank 5 for Mac and iBank for iPad 2.

iBank’s new budgets automatically incorporate scheduled transactions such as recurring income and bills. Users can view historic budgets accurately even as adjustments are made to future budgets, and budgets will sync to iBank for iPad 2 as well. 

iBank 5.0 is available from the IGG online store (www.iggsoftware.com) for US$59.99. Users have the option of downloading the app as an unlimited, 30-day free trial. All licensed users of iBank 4 may install the app, use it in trial mode, and purchase upgrades from within version 5; the price for upgrades via IGG is $29.99. 

For optional, automatic updating of transactions, users of iBank 5 have the opportunity to try Direct Access for free during a 30-day trial. Maintaining the service costs as little as 11 cents a day: just $4.99 per month, or $39.99 for an annual subscription; that data can be synced with iBank for iPad 2 directly from the desktop app over local Wi-Fi or via WebDAV server. 

Release of iBank 5 via the Mac App Store and other outlets will follow. The new version requires Mac OS X 10.8 or higher and is fully compatible with 10.9 Mavericks.