NerdWallet’s Best Banks and Credit Unions for Mobile Banking

Mobile banking can give you access to banking services whenever and wherever you want them. With a bank’s app or website on your phone or tablet, you can complete many common tasks, including checking your account balance, finding nearby ATMs and depositing a check by snapping a photo. Some sophisticated apps even allow you to check your credit score or freeze spending on your bank cards when you misplace them.

Here’s a list of the banks and credit unions with the best mobile banking experiences. To compare a wider range of banks, see our roundup of best banks and credit unions.

Best mobile-focused bank

Simple

Simple gets good user reviews for its Android and iOS apps. Although it currently offers only a checking account, that account comes with perks. It’s completely fee-free, for starters. You also can set savings goals right in the app. Its Safe-to-Spend feature lets you know how much you have left after taking into account your savings goals, bill payments and scheduled future transactions. That’s a step up from the usual “available balance” provided by other bank apps.

» Ready to make a change? Here’s how to switch banks

Best online bank

Discover

With only one branch, Discover is primarily an online bank,  so customers should expect to access their accounts from their mobile devices often. Fortunately, Discover’s highly rated Android and iOS apps don’t disappoint. You can check your credit score, freeze and unfreeze your account if you misplace your Discover debit or credit card, and notify Discover when you travel to ensure ongoing card use. That’s in addition to basic mobile banking services such as bill pay and mobile check deposit. If you want to open a checking account at Discover, however, you’ll need to first have another type of account with the bank.

Best big banks

Chase

Chase’s mobile app offers all the essentials: mobile check deposit, a branch and ATM locator and bill pay. Chase gets consistently high reviews on both iOS and Android platforms and has nationwide branch and ATM coverage.

Capital One

Capital One isn’t just home to highly rated checking and savings accounts, it has a robust and well-loved mobile banking platform, too. The app has all the standard functions of mobile banking, like mobile check deposit and ATM and branch locators. But it also lets you add a layer of security with Touch ID or SureSwipe, and make auto and home loan payments. The iOS version even lets you check your credit score. Both iOS and Android users give Capital One high star ratings.

Best credit union

Alliant Credit Union

Alliant’s app checks all the usual boxes: ATM locator, transaction history, bill payments and balances on demand. But it dominates when it comes to mobile deposit and money management tools. There’s an unusually high daily limit of $50,000 for depositing checks through the app. And the charts and graphs in the money management tool let users analyze their spending habits and keep tabs on budget categories.

Amber Murakami-Fester is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: amufe@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @iamyams. Virginia C. McGuire of NerdWallet contributed to this post.

Updated Nov. 7, 2017.

---

Methodology