Opening accounts

JoeWebber

It seems to be impossible these days to open a financial account without a mobile, so it looks as though I’m going to have to bite the bullet.

I have a mobile but have never needed the phone function. Since I am only going to use it to receive texts from banks etc, what is the absolute cheapest way to achieve this.

PeskyBlunder

You might be bettter off asking in the mobiles forum.

mebu60

Assuming you have an active SIM card in the handset there is no charge to receive SMS OTPs from those financial companies that operate that way.

eskbanker

JoeWebber said:

It seems to be impossible these days to open a financial account without a mobile, so it looks as though I’m going to have to bite the bullet.

It's very easy to open a financial account without a mobile?  There are many products that can be opened and managed in branch, even though the number of branches has been in decline for quite a while now.

On the other hand, if you want to be able to operate an account online and so on, then yes, two factor authentication requirements will effectively dictate that you need to have some tech....

Fatferds12

I have accounts with Paragon and Aldermore and neither require a mobile phone and are managed on line.  

Albermarle

Fatferds12 said:

I have accounts with Paragon and Aldermore and neither require a mobile phone and are managed on line.  

The problem is that I have had accounts where you do not need a mobile, but now you do. That could happen with the above two at some point.

lr1277

Income bonds from NS&I can be operated by post, phone or web. Though with the web option you wil need a mobile to recieve OTP's. There may be other NS&I accounts that don't need a mobile phone.

When you say you have a mobile, is it always on and is the plan always effective. I ask because some pay as you go (PAYG) stop the account if they are not 'used' for a certain period of time. Whilst you have an active SIM in a working phone, you will be ok with financial institutions that send OTP's.

Some financial institutions expect you to have a smartphone with uptodate operating software. It is upto you whether you want particular accounts from such an institution. And if you don't have a smartphone, you are better off asking for advice on the mobiles board.

friolento

mebu60 said:

Assuming you have an active SIM card in the handset there is no charge to receive SMS OTPs from those financial companies that operate that way.

For many accounts you need much more than the ability to receive text messages. A growing number require your photo to be taken as a video, and to be uploaded. Some also offer voice recording as a security feature.

lr1277

Fyi: @JoeWebber has started a thread on the mobiles board.

@JoeWebber I am slightly confused by your post. You say you have a phone but don't use the phone function. Does the phone get used in any capacity? Like say on wifi? And if you have wifi ability, then you have a smartphone?

Beddie

A cheap smartphone will be very useful to you for all sorts of reasons, even if you never make a call on it.

Something like this, although you can go even cheaper if you want. Samsung are reliable and easy to use though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-A15-Black-128GB/dp/B0CR77BGWB

Then get a cheap SIM, look elsewhere on this site for some good deals.

jimjames

JoeWebber said:

It seems to be impossible these days to open a financial account without a mobile, so it looks as though I’m going to have to bite the bullet.

I have a mobile but have never needed the phone function. 

If you have a mobile, but don't use it for apps,  what have you used it for if you've never needed the phone function? What sort of phone is it?