which app to use for banking

chili1496

As above, i am old and have used a card for transactions for aslong as i can remember, recently got an iphone 12 and am thinking of using an app to have a bank card on there and do payments that way.
what is considered to be a good secure app that i can have more than 1 card on, do you use a donor account with minimal funds in it rather than main account with thousands in it.
any advise welcome
thanks

oh as an after thought are starling bank ok??

molerat

With an iPhone likely easiest to use Apple Pay.  As long as your phone is secure it is as safe as having your cards in your wallet, likely actually safer.

chili1496

molerat said:

With an iPhone likely easiest to use Apple Pay.  As long as your phone is secure it is as safe as having your cards in your wallet, likely actually safer.

thanks for that, when you say phone is secure, you mean like face id to unlock etc if so thats all enabled
i am just opening a starling account and will whack a few quid in that to give it all a trial run

Daliah

If you want more than one card, controlled from a single app, you could look at the free Curve app. You can still use ApplePay with Curve.

You can get a free tenner for signing up to Curve via https://www.topcashback.co.uk/curve/

wiseonesomeofthetime

And with a Curve card, you can add Chase with 1% cashback on everyday transactions, for 12 months (atm)

Neil49

I use an android phone with the Google Pay app and that allows me to set a default card (in my case Monzo) but add others which can be selected simply by opening up the app and swiping the card into the active position. I would have thought Apple Pay would be similar.

By having my Monzo card on there I get immediate confirmation of transactions from both Monzo and Google Pay. You would get similar by using Starling. 

I'm in my 70s and only started using my phone for paying after my debit card got cloned while in London. Despite being in a Faraday wallet and only used once while in a coffee shop I discovered a bogus £130 debit for Lancome online on my account (which was refunded).

Once your card details are set up, Apple pay and similar apps use a token to confirm the transaction rather than your card details which is much more secure.

We've just returned from a further visit to London and I used my phone for transactions virtually all the time. 

Daliah

Neil49 said:

I use an android phone with the Google Pay app and that allows me to set a default card (in my case Monzo) but add others which can be selected simply by opening up the app and swiping the card into the active position. I would have thought Apple Pay would be similar.

Yes it is, and using ApplePay on your phone or watch is perfectly ok for making contactless payments with multiple cards. If you have the Curve card as your default card in ApplePay (or GooglePay), you have another layer of functionality which can come in useful in various scenarios. For example, if you make online purchases where you can't pay with GooglePay/ApplePay, you just need to remember [the CVV of] one card, not multiple ones. Of course, if you don't have more than one card, this has no benefits for you, but the OP did ask about multiple cards.

Another advantage of Curve is that you can use GooglePay for cards that are not enabled for GooglePay, as is the case, for instance, with the Chase UK card (which does support ApplePay). Again, if you are not a Chase user, there's no benefit for you.

Curve keeps a full record of all your purchases, and sends you an instant msg when the card is used, regardless of whether the underlying card supports sending messages like Monzo etc do.

Yet another nice feature of Curve for multi-card holders is what they call the "anti-embarrassment mode", where Curve automatically uses a backup card if for any reason the default card fails. Say, you have your debit card as the default card, and a credit card as a backup. If you don't have enough cash on your debit card at the point of payment, Curve automatically pays with your credit card. You also have the option to move any purchase from one card to another within 30 days of purchase, giving you extra flexibility with your funds. All this on the free version of Curve. They also do a chargeable version which has additional features but I have not explored those as they give me no benefits.

Daliah

wiseonesomeofthetime said:

And with a Curve card, you can add Chase with 1% cashback on everyday transactions, for 12 months (atm)

You'd only need that if you are on Android. ApplePay is supported natively by Chase. Of course, you can still use Curve on iOS, too (I do, with my Chase card as the default card).

lr1277

Be careful with Curve. The following is based on my understanding which may not be 100% correct.
A transaction using a Curve card is treated as a debit card transaction, irrespective of the underlying card which is used to make the payment.
Some people use this facility to use a credit card where usually a debit card will only do. For example buying premium bonds or paying their tax bill. In this way the can accrue credit card benefits like points etc where a credit card transaction would not normally be acceptable.
In terms of fees, the credit card card provider, I think they might get the debit card fee instead of the more lucrative credit card fee. This makes it less economical for them to provide the benefits like points for the money they earn.
So certain companies don’t allow their card to work with Curve, or they may close your credit card if you use their card with  Curve.
One credit card company I understand has cancelled the card account of a customer who used Curve once, when linked to their credit card.
There is a paid for Curve card which hay get around some of these problems, but I would be speculating.

To answer your original question, I have my main credit card on Applepay and I find it’s use easy. I have had no security problems with my Apple wallet, so I do consider it secure. I do have an iPhone 8 where I have to enter a PIN. If I get a later iphone, I would want to check that the facial recognition worked whilst I was wearing a mask. Also would check nobody else in my family wearing a mask could unlock my phone.
HTH

Daliah

The days where you could buy PBs or pay your tax bill with the free Curve card are gone, sadly. You can pay HMRC or NS&I with the chargeable card, for a hefty fee, which would not be a very smart thing to do.

You are quite right though, if you pay by Curve, the transaction is a debit card card transaction. This could be an issue if you want to purchase something with Section 75 protection. In this case, pay at least £100 directly with the credit card.

eskbanker

Daliah said:

You are quite right though, if you pay by Curve, the transaction is a debit card card transaction. This could be an issue if you want to purchase something with Section 75 protection. In this case, pay at least £100 directly with the credit card.

You can (theoretically) pay as little as a penny on a credit card to secure Section 75 protection on a transaction, as long as the item being purchased is valued at over £100.