Experienced a pay cut? Here’s what to do next:
- Discuss a plan with family members
- Adjust your budget or create a new one
- Trim non-essential expenses
Online and mobile banking have a lot in common, but there are some distinct differences.
Banking technology has had to keep up with customers whose lives are increasingly demanding. While online banking has been around for quite a few years compared to mobile banking, many people assume that they refer to the same thing – the two are closely related, but there are some distinct differences between them.
Online Banking
Online banking refers to any banking transaction that can be conducted over the internet, generally through a bank’s website under a private profile, and with a desktop or laptop computer. These transactions include services traditionally offered at local branches without having to go to one. Online banking is generally defined as having the following characteristics:
Customers can perform financial transactions while banking online, like paying bills or transferring money from one account to another. Other basic activities include:
In essence, a customer can do almost any activity online that he or she would be able to do in person when visiting a branch.
Mobile Banking
Mobile banking allows you to perform many of the same activities as online banking using a smartphone or tablet instead of a desktop computer. However, simply accessing the bank’s website on a mobile device is not the only method of mobile banking. Mobile banking’s versatility includes:
While more banks are making their sites easier to use on mobile devices, mobile banking is more commonly associated with accessing your accounts through an app. Last year, mobile banking apps were used on 52% of smartphones in the US, according to a consumer and mobile financial services report by the Federal Reserve.
Apps can offer a wide range of services that are not limited to account access and include the following:
Mobile and online banking provides convenience to customers who want to manage their finances while on-the-go; both options allow a person to conduct financial business from outside a banking facility. Customers interested in using either method of doing business should learn about both their bank’s mobile banking app and online banking website to better manage their finances.