TECH BYTE: Handling Money is Convenient with Mobile Banking

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — You no longer have to make a trip to the bank or credit union to be able to access your money.

Kyle Garner with the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union calls their smartphone app just another branch for their customers, where they can access their money on the go.

“You’re trying to see, do I have enough money to make this purchase? You pull out your phone. You check, OK I’m good to go,” Garner said. “People nowadays like to be able to access their phones on the go, and be able to do anything on their phone that they can do from a computer. We expect that functionality across the board.”

The app is convenient, because you can use it whenever you want. You don’t have to wait until the credit union opens to be able to handle your money.

“They can check their balances, they can make their transfers, use bill pay. All of that stuff that they can do, they can do anytime, 24/7 through the app,” Garner said.

Garner says making a mobile deposit with it is easy.

“What they do is they literally take their phone, they hover their phone over the check. They don’t even have to take a picture,” he said. “The app will actually snap the picture for them. All they have to do is plug in the amount, and send it off to us for approval.”

You can do peer-to-peer payments through most banking apps, as well. They don’t even have to have a TVFCU account, just one in the U.S.

“We do offer a piece called Popmoney, so that’s our person-to-person payment service,” Garner said. “It functions very similar to Zelle, all you have to have is either the person you’re paying’s e-mail address, or a cell phone number, and you can pay them just like that.”

If you download a banking app, make sure you take advantage of the security settings, in case your phone gets lost or stolen.

“We obviously require a username and password. There’s also another step of authentication with security questions, not just your basic what is your best friend’s name? They’re kind of stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily know about someone. There’s also that, and then the system actually behind the scenes tracks that activity, to recognize any possible fraudulent logins, and on the back end.”

Garner says everything through the TVFCU app is free, but that’s not the case with all banking apps.

While most are free to download, keep in mind there may be certain fees when using each one.

Make sure to check with your bank about that, so you don’t have any surprise charges.

You can find any of these mobile banking apps in your phone’s app store.

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