22 - Unlocking Your Mobile App: Features You Might Be Missing

Your banking app can do a lot more than just show your balance. In this episode, we take a guided tour of powerful features you might not be using. We'll show you how to master mobile check deposit, how to set up custom security and balance alerts that act as your personal financial assistant, and how to use card controls to instantly turn your debit card on or off for ultimate peace of mind. Learn to unlock the full potential of the bank in your pocket.

If you’ve enjoyed listening to Making Sense of your Cents and you’ve found our tips helpful for your financial journey, I want to ask you a quick favor. Please take a moment right now to hit that Subscribe or Follow button on your favorite podcast app. It’s the best way to make sure you never miss an episode, and it helps other people in our community find the show.

Subscribe today, wherever you listen to your podcasts (Spotify, Apple Podcast, etc.) and send your questions to podcast@fcbtn.com.

Transcript

22 | Unlocking Your Mobile App: Features You Might Be Missing

00:00:00 Daniel Hill: Okay, Shanna, I think for most of us, our banking app has simply become a reflex. We open it, we glance at the main balance on the screen and we close it.

00:00:14 Shanna Browning: Guilty. Every day. That's me. It's a five second check in, right? You see the number and you think, okay, I've got money and I move on with my day.

00:00:22 Daniel Hill: But, you know, in doing that, we're walking past a whole suite of incredibly powerful tools that are just sitting there, waiting, begging to be used. It's like owning a smartphone and only ever using it to make phone calls.

00:00:38 Shanna Browning: Perfect analogy. And these apps really can do so much more than just show you a number. They can help you save, protect you from fraud, and really make managing your money almost effortless. And today we're going to explore some of those wonderful hidden gems.

00:01:02 Daniel Hill: Welcome back to Making Sense of your Cents. I'm Daniel Hill.

00:01:06 Shanna Browning: And hello, friends, I'm Shanna Browning, and today we're going to take a guided tour of a tool most of us really use every day, but might not be using it to its full potential. Your mobile banking app.

00:01:18 Daniel Hill: And we're going to highlight four powerful features that can save you time, give you more control, and help you feel more confident about your finances. All from the palm of your hand.

00:01:31 Shanna Browning: Pretty powerful tool. Daniel. Let's start with a feature that I believe is one of the most powerful and underutilized tools for avoiding fees and spotting fraud.

00:01:43 Daniel Hill: I think I know where you're going with this - account alerts. We've mentioned them before in many of our episodes, but the capabilities go so much further than people even realize.

00:01:56 Shanna Browning: I want you to think of alerts as kind of like your own personal financial security guard.

00:02:00 Daniel Hill: Oh that's good.

00:02:01 Shanna Browning: And it's sending you a text or email the moment something important happens. It's about turning a passive account into a proactive one. And what are some of the most useful alerts people can set up right now?

00:02:12 Daniel Hill: Well, there are a few that I recommend for everyone, and I want to group them into two categories. Security obviously because I'm a security officer. That's right. And awareness. So for security the large transaction alert is number one. You can set your own threshold say two hundred dollars. The app will then send you an instant notification anytime a transaction over that amount posts to your account. This is fantastic for fraud detection. If you're at home on a Tuesday and you get an alert for five hundred dollars purchase in another state, you instantly know that your card has been compromised and you can act immediately.

00:02:56 Shanna Browning: Yeah, because five hundred is more than my two hundred dollars threshold. So yes. So it really is an early warning system in real time. Okay. So that's the security side. What about the awareness alerts.

00:03:09 Daniel Hill: Well these are ones that help you manage your day to day cash flow. The low balance alert. Now we've talked about this alert many times through many of our episodes. And it is the best tool for preventing overdrafts and managing your account. Setting an alert when your balance drops below one hundred dollars, let's say, gives you a crucial heads up to stop spending or transfer funds before a problem occurs. Now, Shanna, the next feature I think this one has been a game changer in terms of convenience, but I'm still surprised about how many people have never tried it or are nervous about it.

00:03:51 Shanna Browning: And I, I get that and but I love it. I used it just the other day myself. So I love it. It's mobile check deposit, and it's really the ability to deposit a paper check using the camera on your phone.

00:04:04 Daniel Hill: Exactly. For anyone who still gets a paper check from a job or a side hustle, or as a gift from grandma, this feature eliminates the need to make a special trip to the bank or an ATM. Let's walk people through it, but also provide some pro tips to make sure it works perfectly every time.

00:04:22 Shanna Browning: You got it. It's a great idea. So what's the first and most important step?

00:04:26 Daniel Hill: Well, the first, most important step is the endorsement on the back of the check. The endorsement is where you sign your name and right below it, you absolutely must write for mobile deposit only. Some checks have a box that you can check that says for mobile deposit only. That's another option that you can use, but it's a critical security feature. It creates a restrictive endorsement that prevents the check from being cashed or deposited a second time. If you forget this step, the deposit will most likely be rejected.

00:05:03 Shanna Browning: So it really is your very first step. Got it. So we sign it and we write for mobile deposit only. Then what?

00:05:11 Daniel Hill: Then you open your banking app. You find the deposit check or check deposit feature. You'll be prompted to enter the amount of the check. After that, the app will use your phone's camera. And here's the pro tip number one lighting and background matter. Place the check on a dark, flat surface like a kitchen table or a desk, not your lap or a patterned tablecloth, and make sure you're in a well-lit room to avoid shadows.

00:05:38 Shanna Browning: Because the app really needs to be able to read the numbers on the check clearly.

00:05:43 Daniel Hill: Precisely. You'll take a clear picture of the front, making sure all four corners are visible in the frame. Then you'll flip it over and take a picture of the endorsed back. The app will show you the images and the amount for you to confirm. You hit submit and you're done.

00:05:59 Shanna Browning: Wow. Pretty simple. What should you do with that paper check, though, after you've deposited it? I know some people are probably just tempted to rip it up immediately and throw it away.

00:06:09 Daniel Hill: Well, Shanna, that's pro tip number two. Don't trash it right away. You should hold on to that physical check in a safe place for at least a week, or until you see that the funds have been fully credited to your account and are no longer pending. Once you've confirmed the deposit is complete, then you can destroy the check. And preferably with a shredder.

00:06:29 Shanna Browning: Always with the shredder.

00:06:32 Daniel Hill: For our next feature, I want to talk about something that gives you an incredible amount over the control and security of your debit card.

00:06:41 Shanna Browning: And you know, I'll be honest. Full transparency. I sometimes forget this is there even on our own. So this is great for me as well. But you're talking about card controls or card management.

00:06:50 Daniel Hill: Exactly. This is the section of the app that many people never open, but it's like a remote control for your debit card The most powerful tool in this section is the simple on off switch.

00:07:03 Shanna Browning: And what's the main reason that I or someone would want to use that?

00:07:06 Daniel Hill: Well, the most common use case is for a lost or misplaced card, and it's a huge stress reliever. Let's say you're out running some errands. You get home and you find your debit card. Or rather, you can't find your debit card. You have that moment of panic. Did I drop it in the store? Did I leave it on the counter at the coffee shop? Did someone steal it from my purse?

00:07:27 Shanna Browning: And I've had all of those thoughts. And your first instinct is immediately to call the bank, which now you can't find that number either. So. But you want to call the bank and cancel it immediately, right?

00:07:39 Daniel Hill: But what if it's just in your jacket pocket or it fell between the seats of your car? If you cancel it, you're without a card for a week or until you can get a new one. Instead, the first thing you should do is open your app, go to card management, and toggle that card to off.

00:07:58 Shanna Browning: So you're telling me the card is instantly deactivated?

00:08:01 Daniel Hill: Instantly! It cannot be used for any purchases or ATM withdrawals. It's completely useless to anyone who might find it. This gives you the peace of mind to look for it without worrying that a thief is draining your account. If you find it an hour later, you just open the app and toggle it to on and you're back in business. No need to cancel, no need to get a new card and it turns a potential crisis into a minor inconvenience.

00:08:27 Shanna Browning: I really wish I remembered this one more because I could truly use it, and it is a fantastic feature. So it's a temporary, reversible, reversible solution that prevents a huge headache.

00:08:40 Daniel Hill: Exactly. And there's another, more proactive way to use it for even greater security. And you know, I love security. If you're someone who primarily uses a credit card for your daily purchases but keeps your debit card for ATM withdrawals, You can keep your debit card turned off by default.

00:09:01 Shanna Browning: Get out of here. Seriously. So you just leave it off most of the time.

00:09:05 Daniel Hill: Yeah, the card is essentially dormant and secure. Then right before you walk up to the ATM, you take 10s to open the app, toggle the card on, make your withdrawal, and then toggle it right back off when you're done. It dramatically reduces the risk of your card number being stolen by a skimmer at an ATM, or used for fraudulent online purchases. If your data is never compromised in a breach.

00:09:27 Shanna Browning: Man. Daniel. It's a great tip. It turns your debit card into a tool you activate only when you need it. So while the on off switch is the star of the show, it's still worth exploring that section of the app for other features, right?

00:09:42 Daniel Hill: Absolutely. While you're in the section of the app, it's a great idea to just explore the other options available. You can often set up more specific alerts for different transaction types, which is just another fantastic layer of real time security.

00:09:57 Shanna Browning: I mean, it's really this has really been fantastic. It's truly finding a bunch of secret little passages in a house that you've lived in for years. And that brings us to this week's actionable tip.

00:10:11 Daniel Hill: Your action item for this week is simple. Explore one feature.

00:10:17 Shanna Browning: We want you to open your mobile banking app sometime in the next forty eight hours. But instead of just glancing at your balance, your mission is to find and explore one of the features we've talked about today that you've never used before.

00:10:31 Daniel Hill: If you've never set up an alert, just go into the alerts menu. Set up a load balanced alert. If you have a paper check sitting in your wallet, use the mobile check deposit feature to deposit it right now, or go into the card management section and just try toggling your card off and back on again to see how it works.

00:10:50 Shanna Browning: We promise you you're not going to break it. No, it'll be fine. And so the goal this week is to move beyond being a passive viewer of your bank account and becoming an active user of the powerful tools at your disposal. Two minutes. Just take the two minutes, try one new thing, and you're going to unlock a new level of convenience and control.

00:11:10 Daniel Hill: That little computer in your pocket is one of your best tools for financial clarity, which is what we're all about. Thank you for joining us today to learn how to make the most of it.

00:11:22 Shanna Browning: And be sure to tune in next week for our very important episode, your annual financial checkup. Until then, I'm Shanna Browning.

00:11:30 Daniel Hill: And I'm Daniel Hill. Thanks for making us a part of your week. Now go out and make some sense of your Cents.