Banking without a mobile, possible?

confuciusofessex

I want to put my money to work, better. But I don't have a mobile phone. So far I've tried my bank that I have been with for ever. But they insist I do everything on the app. Went in to the bank , thinking doing it face to face would work. "NO, go away and use the app! But hang on I've just told you I don't have a mobile phone. Then we can't help you."

So Martin Lewis, how the heck can I do any banking? Is there a bank that will let me bank on-line without a mobile phone?

It's seem to me that, if you are a pensioner and can't afford a  finance the running cost of a mobile phone, then you are locked out of society.

oldernonethewiser

You don't need an app to use First Direct.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6687613/banking-without-a-mobile-possible

You can use Lloyds and Bank of Scotland to receive OTPs with a landline and you can just use browser based internet banking.

If all you're doing is receiving OTPs using a prepaid SIM is pretty cheap though.

Vitor

Yep, first direct provides a physical secure key as alternative to a mobi - Secure Key Options | first direct. Of course there's no high-street branches.

grumpy_codger

HSBC

Nationwide

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6687613/banking-without-a-mobile-possible

A basic mobile phone is under £100, and can cost less that £3 pr month to run. If you cant afford that then there's not going to be much in your bank account anyway!

friolento

I want to put my money to work, better.

You don't usually use a bank for that. Building Societies, or Investment Platforms are the way to do it. Many modern features are indeed only available in apps, so refusing to get a smartphone may well be self harm.

if you are a pensioner and can't afford a  finance the running cost of a mobile phone

A smartphone doesn't need to cost a lot to acquire and to run. If you get your money to work better, you should easily be able to pay for it.

So Martin Lewis, how the heck can I do any banking?

Martin Lewis doesn't read this forum so don't expect him to answer.

If you can give more detail on what you mean by 'banking' and 'put my money to work better', you might get some more helpful responses.

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82176228#Comment_82176228

With the small exception of their Regular Saver, you wouldn't use First Direct to "make your money work better"

Neil_Jones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6687613/banking-without-a-mobile-possible

Something like https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-Feature-Display-Expandable-Headphone-Charcoal/dp/B0DGGXJQH7 would work if your bank is able to send text messages instead of app pushes. Santander support text OTP.

Coupled with a phone provider PAYG that you only have to put a small amount of credit on every x months and what you're complaining about is easily solved and about as cheap as it gets.

You may be able to send OTPs to a landline as well, as alluded to above.

Unfortunately complaining about being "locked out of society" doesn't really help your case - you've clearly got internet access which is easily £30 a month I'd have guessed - if you can afford that every month you can probably afford a budget mobile phone as a one-off expense.

Need to make progress, otherwise we'd still have people with red flags be walking in front of cars…

TheBanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6687613/banking-without-a-mobile-possible

Which bank are you with, and what are you trying to do? The high street banks that still have branches, or a presence in Banking Hubs, don't offer the most competitive products (because running a branch network is expensive compared to an app), but they still have staff who should help you.

If you have a small local Building Society they might be worth trying. Probably not the best rates but some of them don't even have apps.

elsien

I have my main accounts with Santander and Nationwide and I don’t use the app. for either. But I do use a mobile phone for the two factor verification although there are other ways - so with Nationwide you can use the card reader instead. I’ve also seen options (although I can’t remember which bank) where you can have the verification code sent to a landline instead.

I would be interested to know what questions you were asking them that was making them point you that way? It sounds like you’re presuming you need a phone because you have to use the app when actually that isn’t the case. It is more often having the phone as a security measure.

There are a lot of people who struggle with money, not just some pensioners.
You can buy a cheap secondhand phone and pay you as you go SIM that hardly costs anything. The running costs can be minimal and are worth it for the level of convenience given that that is the way of the world is going.