iPhone App Sherpa: Hunting For ATMs

New iPhone (Stock Quote: AAPL) applications are springing up each day and they are all vying to be our “can’t live without it” accessory. In particular, it seems as if finance applications, originally not very popular, have since found their place among consumers looking for ways to battle the recession.

How often have you found yourself in this position? You’re going out to a cash-only bar after work for an impromptu drink with your colleagues, but you check your wallet and realize you spent your last few dollars on that burrito at lunch! You need an ATM and you need one fast. Where’s the closest one? Is there a Bank of America (Stock Quote: BAC) nearby? Wasn’t there a machine hidden way in the back of that deli? I wonder what the fees will be on that thing?

For many people, searching for an ATM that won’t gouge them with high fees (or steal their personal information) is a quest worth taking.

Although there are several applications trying to become your go-to ATM finding tool (including iATM and myATM), the big boys over at MasterCard (Stock Quote: MA) have stepped up to the plate and put everyone else to shame with ATM Hunter.

The ATM Hunter App is available as a free download from the App Store. The service and interface are both very basic and straightforward and the app offers a wealth of valuable information.

Using your iPhone’s built in GPS functionality, ATM Hunter can immediately pinpoint your location and begin spewing forth the closest and easiest to access ATMs in your vicinity. The app will also provide details on the exact distance, the full address, the name of the location and whether it’s a banking institution, restaurant, convenience store, bodega or freestanding machine along a desolate dirt road.

The search functionality on this application also allows you to narrow your hunt for specific bank ATMs, ATMs with deposit capabilities or machines without a surcharge.