If you want to manage your money from anywhere, looking for good mobile banking is your best bet. In fact, many banks provide access to a full range of services–right at your fingertips.
Well take a look at some of the best mobile banking options available to consumers and take a look at what you can expect when you use these apps on your devices.
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Best Mobile Banking – Short Reviews
First of all, here are some of the best mobile banking options.
| Banking App | Best For |
|---|---|
| Chime® | Getting your paycheck up to two days early |
| CIT Bank | Higher savings yield |
| Discover | Full-service banking |
| Citizens Access | Mobile-optimized banking without an app |
| Ally | Sending money between accounts |
| Capital One | Ease of use |
Mobile banking offers the opportunity for you to access important products and features no matter where you go. Some of these mobile banking options are available only through the app, while others are banking apps that complement online access. Here are some of the best choices.
Chime
Chime is an award-winning financial app that allows you to manage your money on the go with an easy user interface and a clean design. Not only that, but Chime offers additional perks, including the ability to get your paycheck up to two days early when you have Direct Deposit.
With this mobile banking app, you can also automatically save every time you get paid. You can also see automatic savings when spending using your Chime Visa® Credit Card. Your purchases are rounded to the nearest dollar, and the difference is deposited into your savings.
This option comes with a relatively low APY, though. You’ll need to decide if the convenience and perks are worth the lower yield.
Related: Chime Review
Chime Disclosure – Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC.
1Save When I Get Paid automatically transfers 10% of your direct deposits of $500 or more from your Checking Account into your savings account.
^Round Ups automatically round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfer the round up from your Chime Checking Account to your savings account.
CIT Bank
If you’re looking for a higher yield, CIT Bank offers one of the best options. CIT Bank offers one of the highest APYs! With their Savings Builder in particular, a monthly deposit of at least $100 is required to meet their APY of up to 1.00%, but that’s a fairly easy metric to meet if you’re serious about saving. You can also meet the requirement for this upper tier APY by maintaining a balance of at least $25,000. See details here.
The mobile app allows you to check your balances and history, as well as transfer money between CIT accounts. You can even use the app to deposit checks to your Money Market and Savings accounts.
Read More: CIT Bank Review
CIT Bank. Member FDIC.
Discover
For a full-service bank experience from your phone, the Discover app is a good choice. Not only can you get information about your Discover savings account, but you can also see any credit card accounts and other accounts. Plus, you can use the app to transfer money between Discover accounts as well as external accounts.
Discover also offers a reasonably competitive APY on its savings product. So, while it might not be as high as some other mobile banking options, it is reasonable considering the functionality of the app.
Citizens Access
Even though Citizens Access doesn’t have an app, it does have a highly-optimized mobile banking website. There is a very good user interface for mobile users, so you can access your accounts with the help of the browser on your mobile device. There is even a check deposit feature you can use with the mobile website.
Citizens Access offers a competitive 0.40% APY on its savings account. However, you do need to deposit $5,000 in order to earn that rate of return.
Ally
Because Ally has no physical locations, it has made it a point to develop its mobile banking app to the point where it is very easy to manage your money. You can use the app to find access to cash-back locations and receive ATM fee reimbursement as needed. Ally is also good for transferring money between Ally and non-Ally accounts using Zelle. This can help you get your money in a more convenient place if needed.
Capital One
The Capital One mobile banking app has been rated #1 for satisfaction by J.D. Power for two years. Part of the reason is due to the fact that this app is very easy to use. You can easily check your balances, use Zelle to make digital payments and transfer money, and manage other aspects of your finances.
What is Mobile Banking?
Essentially, mobile banking is done from a mobile device. Rather than logging onto a desktop computer or going to a physical location, you manage your money from the palm of your hand.
With mobile banking, it’s fairly easy to manage your account and the best mobile banking apps make it easy to access everything you need. When used on a new iOS device, once you get your app set up by logging in initially, facial recognition grants you instant access. On other devices, you might be able to access the app with your thumb or fingerprint, or even just touch the app when logged into your mobile device.
The convenience of mobile banking, for the most part, means that you don’t have to regularly enter your user name and password when you want to access your accounts and manage your money. There are some cases where an app might not be available, but you can still use your phone’s browser to access your account on a highly-optimized version of the website. In this case, you might need to save your login info on your phone’s browser if you don’t want to be stuck entering it each time.
Related: Best Online Banks
How Mobile Banking Works
Because you don’t generally visit a bank when you rely on mobile banking, there are some things to be aware of.
Deposits
If you have Direct Deposit for your paycheck, there isn’t a lot you need to do. The money still goes to your bank, and you can use your mobile banking app to verify that you’ve received the money. Without Direct Deposit, you have other options for depositing your money:
- Mobile check deposit: The best mobile banking apps allow you to snap a picture of a check and use that to make a deposit in your account.
- Electronic transfer: Connect other bank accounts with your mobile banking account to be able to move money back and forth. You can also receive P2P payments from others using apps like Venmo and Zelle and connect those to your bank account so you can move your money.
- Physical deposit: If your mobile banking is an app from a bank with a local branch, you can bring your cash or check into the branch.
- U.S. Mail: Send your deposit by mail. You won’t see the money for several days if you choose this method, and it’s best not to send cash through the mail.
Withdrawals
Getting money when using mobile banking usually isn’t too difficult. Most banks issue debit cards. In fact, even banks like Chime and Ally that don’t have physical locations send debit cards that you can use to get cash back at stores or make withdrawals from ATMs.
You can also see if your account allows you to write checks. Finally, if you need to send money elsewhere, to pay bills or to send money to another person, it’s possible to use your app’s bill pay function or connect your account to a payment app like Venmo.
Is Mobile Banking Safe?
In general, mobile banking is safe. Most developers use a high level of security when developing these apps, so your information is protected. Additionally, depending on how the app is set up, you might need facial recognition, a PIN, or a fingerprint to access the app and make any changes. So, if your phone falls into the wrong hands, someone is still unlikely to be able to access your apps and make changes.
Related: What Happens if Your Bank App is Hacked
Bottom Line
Mobile banking is a convenient way to manage your money from just about anywhere. All you have to do is download your bank’s mobile app, set it up for access, and then use it. If you’re looking for an easy way to take care of almost every aspect of money management, it’s possible from the palm of your hand.
Miranda Marquit
Miranda Marquit is a nationally-recognized financial writer and money expert. She has contributed to NPR, Marketwatch, Yahoo! Finance, U.S. News & World Report, FOX Business, The Hill and numerous other publications. Miranda is an avid podcaster and writes about money and freelancing at her website, MirandaMarquit.com [http://mirandamarquit.com/]. She lives in Idaho and loves reading, board games, travel, the outdoors and spending time with her son.
