More than 100 million people bank using their mobile devices, and for good reason. While brick-and-mortar banking may never be replaced, many day-to-day financial transactions are efficiently carried out using (primarily) our phones.

Mobile banking offers many advantages, such as very good (and increasingly better) security, easy access, and a wide variety of financial apps, not to mention the most obvious: convenience. It gives you much greater control over your money, from everyday transactions to longer-term choices. You can check balances, make payments and deposits, pay bills, and more, from anywhere you have an internet connection.

While there are still limitations, as time goes on, the number of conveniences grows, like real-time account transfers, bank-to-bank transfers, and automated alerts. As the sophistication of our devices grows, apps become more functional, and mobile banking is approaching online banking in diversity and usability. Virtual wallets and money-saving and investing functions are growing in popularity.

Security is obviously a very big priority, and often the perception lags the reality: mobile banking is actually very secure, safer even than internet banking. Even if you lose your phone (or have it stolen), you can quickly disable it remotely. And your biggest security advantage is seamlessly built into mobile banking: being able to check your accounts anywhere, anytime. The closer watch you keep on your finances, the fewer chances there are for undetected fraud or breaches such as identity theft.

Updating to the newest release of your banking app is always important, since functions and security are growing and improving, and the most recent version gives you the best of both. First Source’s new release, memberMOBILE 3.0, is the latest example.

As mobile banking grows, we’ll always be here to help support your needs!