Now mobile banking is internet banking with slightly reduced functions, which is adapted for mobile devices and for small diagonals of the screens of your tablets and smartphones. But the principle of “mobile first” is already in use, and in many places applications are more functional than the full versions for the PC or the Internet.
What do we have now?
There are more than 50 banks with built-in support chats in applications where a chatbot robot in text command mode accepts your instructions, performs operations and provides information, there are already more than 50 banks in Russian-speaking countries, this is very fashionable. There are already banks that work only on mobile phones and only through mobile banking application development.
But when do we usually resort to mobile banking, and when do we choose other channels for payments and transfers?
When choosing a payment method, we ourselves do not notice that we take into account:
- Availability (availability of the necessary equipment: computer, telephone, ATM),
- Urgency (the faster we need to make a payment, the more likely we will do it via a smartphone),
- Security (the smaller the amount, the less critical its loss in case of fraud; we will talk about the security of mobile banking below),
- The need for a receipt (there are times when we need a cashier’s receipt or a “sales receipt” with a seal),
- The amount of the transfer (the higher the payment, the less likely we will use mobile banking),
- Cost (whether there is a commission for the payment or, on the contrary, a bonus is given).
All this determines our choice, right? If the amount is small, we have a limited time, we trust transfers via a mobile device, because We have been using them for a long time – we will choose a payment via a mobile bank.
As NAFI statistics show, most often we choose mobile banking in the following cases:
- Payment for communication (Internet, mobile phone),
- Financial assistance / transfers to relatives,
- Settlements with friends and colleagues.
The main advantage of such transfers is availability and speed. After all, the phone is always at hand, right?
Mobile banking is also good for the following:
- The vast majority of mobile banking services are free. You just need to download the application;
- All electronic banking transactions are encrypted. They are more secure than similar wire transfers;
- Many mobile banks include financial accounting functions (for example, you can track expenses, build schedules, and set spending limits). However, they differ in significantly reduced functionality. If you need detailed control over your finances, as well as if you are a client of several banks at the same time, then a third-party financial accounting service will help you to reduce your budget. You can try the free multifunctional version of Home Bookkeeping here for Android and iPhone / iPad.
How to use the mobile bank safely
The main disadvantage of mobile banking is the low level of security:
- SMS messages are unencrypted and easily intercepted. A hacker will be able to relatively easily obtain information about a user’s account and cards.
- Losing your phone? Access to the bank may end up in the hands of a stranger.
- Mobile devices without anti-virus protection are at high risk of confidential information being compromised.
- Data is not difficult to steal if you access the Internet through questionable connections, such as free Wi-Fi in public areas.
Today, clients choose a bank not only on the basis of the cost of banking services and interest rates, but also on the basis of which banking it will be most convenient for them to work with. Today, entering the user’s personal account from the bank’s website is already the last century. Internet banking or mobile banking is what customers are interested in.
The more you can do yourself without visiting a branch, the more convenient. What operations can you carry out yourself, directly from the application in your smartphone?
- pay for utilities with the ability to receive an electronic version of the receipt;
- top up the accounts of a mobile operator and an Internet provider;
- receive statements on card accounts, check the balance;
- receive payments and send transfers from card to card, including between cards of different banks;
- open and replenish deposits, view the conditions for them;
- repay loans;
- purchase tickets for different types of transport;
- buy currency;
- issue an installment plan for goods;
- create regular and recurring payments.
The list is incomplete, although not all banks have this functionality. In order to use mobile banking, you just need to become a client of the bank by opening a card account there.