Phones that are compatible with the Chase App

pafpcg

2010 said:

TELLIT01 said:

The concerns about the Chase app have come at the right time for me.  I'm looking at savings accounts and many are managed by Chase.  Despite my phone only being 2 years old Samsung I'm inclined to avoid anything linked to Chase.  I have no idea whether the version of Android on my phone 16, 32, 64 bit or whatever, and I suspect most for most phone users that isn't high on their list of priorities when purchasing.

Suggestions that somebody pay out £150 for a 'cheap' phone is crazy.  If it's cheap it will probably also not run the app in 12 months time.  What then - another £150 up in smoke?

I`m with you on this.

People are buying new phones (whatever the cost) just to open a current bank account to then open a savings account to get the great rate of 1.5%, which will soon be caught up with by others who make it easier to open an account.
And how much are they putting in this Chase account after jumping through hoops to get it?
I would guess not enough to justify the hassle and cost involved.

As discussed earlier in this forum, the economics don't justify buying almost any form of smartphone if it's only to run the Chase app.  You'd have to have substantial savings and/or debit card purchases for the interest rate differential (0.5%) to balance the capital expenditure on the phone.  To break-even on a £150 smartphone, there would need to be a balance of £30,000 for a year.  How long can Chase maintain a 0.5% differential?  With today's announcement by Al Rayan, the differential for me is now down to 0.4%.

masonic

Olinda99 said:

As I understand it, it was (is) difficult / impossible to get 32bit processors so they installed 64 bit processors on the cheaper phones as these were plentiful

What WERE easily available (and cheap) were / are 32 bit peripherals (modems, screen drivers etc) ie bits other than the cpu.

Building with them made the phone cheaper, but of course it meant a 64 bit operating system could not be used even though there was a 64 bit processer.

The reason 32-bit processors are scarce is the same reason that 16-bit processors became scarce in the 1990s - the world moved on.

Only the CPU and system bus is limiting as to whether a 64-bit OS can be loaded. Even 32-bit GPUs are compatible with 64-bit OS as they only address 1 GB RAM (this is actually how Raspberry Pi's are set up). Similarly other peripherals are accessed through mapped memory addresses on a bus and their internal workings are separate. The absence of 64-bit software drivers for said peripherals could theoretically be an issue, but there are quite a number of instances of phone models that differ only in memory (e.g. 3/4/6 GB RAM) and the 6 GB model requires and has the 64-bit OS, while those with less memory have 32-bit. The other hardware is identical. I find it hard to believe any hardware manufacturer would not write 64-bit Android drivers for their device - it would limit their market considerably and it is relatively easy for them to modify a 32-bit driver for 64-bit use (although most likely today's device drivers would need to be backported to 32-bit from 64-bit).

masonic

pafpcg said:

2010 said:

TELLIT01 said:

The concerns about the Chase app have come at the right time for me.  I'm looking at savings accounts and many are managed by Chase.  Despite my phone only being 2 years old Samsung I'm inclined to avoid anything linked to Chase.  I have no idea whether the version of Android on my phone 16, 32, 64 bit or whatever, and I suspect most for most phone users that isn't high on their list of priorities when purchasing.

Suggestions that somebody pay out £150 for a 'cheap' phone is crazy.  If it's cheap it will probably also not run the app in 12 months time.  What then - another £150 up in smoke?

I`m with you on this.

People are buying new phones (whatever the cost) just to open a current bank account to then open a savings account to get the great rate of 1.5%, which will soon be caught up with by others who make it easier to open an account.
And how much are they putting in this Chase account after jumping through hoops to get it?
I would guess not enough to justify the hassle and cost involved.

As discussed earlier in this forum, the economics don't justify buying almost any form of smartphone if it's only to run the Chase app.  You'd have to have substantial savings and/or debit card purchases for the interest rate differential (0.5%) to balance the capital expenditure on the phone.  To break-even on a £150 smartphone, there would need to be a balance of £30,000 for a year.  How long can Chase maintain a 0.5% differential?  With today's announcement by Al Rayan, the differential for me is now down to 0.4%.

Well, there is also the 1% cashback and occasional partner offers (well just the Amazon one in December so far), but I'm still in agreement that buying a new device just for this app seems a little OTT.

andyhicks88

I've not done it myself yet (and maybe won't) but what people seem to be forgetting is that if someone is buying a new phone, it means they will then have an old one to get rid of, which then means they will get some, or maybe all, of their money back and in essence lose nothing and gain the extra interest. So actually in those cases it would pay to buy a new phone just for this savings account.

eskbanker

andyhicks88 said:

I've not done it myself yet (and maybe won't) but what people seem to be forgetting is that if someone is buying a new phone, it means they will then have an old one to get rid of, which then means they will get some, or maybe all, of their money back and in essence lose nothing and gain the extra interest. So actually in those cases it would pay to buy a new phone just for this savings account.

I'd suggest that those who are being advised to upgrade for this account, i.e. people with old 32-bit Android phones, would be best not to have ambitious expectations of getting anywhere near all their money back and losing nothing!

sparkiemalarkie

I also felt  that buying a phone especially for the chase app was completely pointless. What happens if the phone becomes incompatible after the next app update ?
I have just had the awful experience of the Virgin Money app updating and no longer working on my phone. My money was completely locked away from me. I needed the app to verify my internet log in to Virgin Money. It was almost impossible to get through to the help line on the phone as the wait time was well over an hour. After several days, uninstalling and reinstalling the app on all of the devices we had in the house, endless attempts to get through on the phone, and several unpaid bills I managed to talk to someone and they disconnected my account from the app and I could then access my money.
It was a very anxious time for me ....I had no idea what was happening to my funds...it made me aware that relying on an app as the only way to access my money would not suit me at all.

andyhicks88

eskbanker said:

andyhicks88 said:

I've not done it myself yet (and maybe won't) but what people seem to be forgetting is that if someone is buying a new phone, it means they will then have an old one to get rid of, which then means they will get some, or maybe all, of their money back and in essence lose nothing and gain the extra interest. So actually in those cases it would pay to buy a new phone just for this savings account.

I'd suggest that those who are being advised to upgrade for this account, i.e. people with old 32-bit Android phones, would be best not to have ambitious expectations of getting anywhere near all their money back and losing nothing!

Why? I don't know about anyone else but i have easily found phones that will run it on cex and backmarket that match how much mine would currently sell for, and I only have a budget one to start with that cost just over £100 new.  Unless you have a basic one that cost under £70 quid new then you will easily find a second hand phone that will run it for a similar price.

Regarding the other point above, again, it's not an issue. You have a 64bit phone that will be compatible for many years, and, you simply then just have to make sure any new phone you are buying has one of the newer operating systems, which again will be compatible then for many years. 

People are really making a mountain out of a molehill about all this.

andyhicks88

Just to add as well, the reason that I may be tempted to go down that route, even if rates start to get close to it or match it elsewhere, is that I very much like my main savings account linked to a current account, it makes it all very easy to use and manage and I like having my money in one place. That's how I currently operate with Virgin Money.

masonic

andyhicks88 said:

Just to add as well, the reason that I may be tempted to go down that route, even if rates start to get close to it or match it elsewhere, is that I very much like my main savings account linked to a current account, it makes it all very easy to use and manage and I like having my money in one place. That's how I currently operate with Virgin Money.

I would tend to take the opposite view. I prefer any significant savings I hold to be held separately from a current account I actively use. Theft of savings would therefore require two breaches within a short space of time, which is much less likely. Not that this is a showstopper for me by any means, just not ideal.

eskbanker

andyhicks88 said:

eskbanker said:

andyhicks88 said:

I've not done it myself yet (and maybe won't) but what people seem to be forgetting is that if someone is buying a new phone, it means they will then have an old one to get rid of, which then means they will get some, or maybe all, of their money back and in essence lose nothing and gain the extra interest. So actually in those cases it would pay to buy a new phone just for this savings account.

I'd suggest that those who are being advised to upgrade for this account, i.e. people with old 32-bit Android phones, would be best not to have ambitious expectations of getting anywhere near all their money back and losing nothing!

Why? I don't know about anyone else but i have easily found phones that will run it on cex and backmarket that match how much mine would currently sell for, and I only have a budget one to start with that cost just over £100 new.  Unless you have a basic one that cost under £70 quid new then you will easily find a second hand phone that will run it for a similar price.

Yes, sure, second hand phones will obviously be cheaper than buying new ones (the premise of the post I quoted), but even then, I'd suggest that you're the exception rather than the rule if you can achieve a meaningfully like-for-like handset upgrade at no cost (outside contracts), although I'm not denying it'll be possible for some....