What makes a good banking app in 2023?

These days we want to be able to access our bank accounts and conduct most aspects of everyday banking from our smartphones.

The top needs are to transfer money quickly and easily between accounts when you’re on the go and to be able to lock your card if you’ve misplaced it.

While most banks have apps that allow you to do the bare minimum, there are some that offer special features, helping them stand out from others.

Let’s look at the features that make a good banking app.

Features of a good banking app

• Easy to use and navigate 
• Push notifications for incoming and outgoing transactions
• Access to information about individual transactions
• Ability to update personal information
• Security and privacy features such as biometric authentication
• Option to control accounts including locking the card and changing your pin
• Option to open new accounts 
• The ability to set savings goals and track spending 
• Ability to make purchases through ApplePay, GooglePay and use PayID or BPAY.

Examples of good banking apps

If you’re looking to switch to a bank with a good app, you’re in luck!

The 2023 Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Mobile Banking and Money Management Apps have analysed 74 banking apps to find the best ones. There were 8 winners in the “Excellent Banking App” category.

You can’t review all eight but for now here’a a look at 3 of the winning providers and the features that their banking apps offer.

Commonwealth Bank

Features of the Commonwealth Bank App:

• Option to use face recognition, touch ID or PIN code to login
• See your monthly cash flow 
• Create category budgets 
• Set savings goals
• Track bills and recurring payments
• Temporarily lock card or report lost, stolen or damaged card
• Change your pin and update personal details
• Ability to find your nearest ATM or branch
• Verify whether a caller claiming to be from CommBank is legitimate with the CallerCheck feature
• 24 hour support via Ceba (the virtual assistant) or use Commbank Message to speak to a specialist and get a quick response.

Up

Features of the Up App:

• Option to use PIN, Touch ID or face recognition to log in
• Push notifications every time you buy something that tells you how much you spent and how much you’ve got left in your account 
• Automatic spending categorisation so you can see how much you spend at different brands and shops
• See your “spendable balance” after you get paid so you know how much you can spend between pays 
• Upcoming bill prediction for regular bills and charges so you can keep track and be reminded so you avoid any late fees
• Set up multiple savings accounts
• Set spending trackers on multiple spending categories
• Save items you want in the “Maybuy” section and save up for them 
• View your payment history with a particular person 
• Use Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay
• Choose to round up your purchases and have the extra money deposited into your savings account
• Check Afterpay purchases that were made using your Up account
• Get a yearly personalised annual review.

NAB

Features of the NAB Bank App:

• Choose to log in with a password, PIN code, fingerprint or face ID
• Receive notifications when you use your card or you get paid
• Temporarily block, unblock and reorder lost cards
• Reset your PIN
• Manage contactless, online and overseas payments 
• Set a unique PayID to get paid faster
• Pay with Google Pay, Samsung Pay or Apple Pay
• Set savings goals and track them 
• Open a new account 
• Find your nearest NAB branch or ATM
• Schedule future payments 
• Digitally store your receipts for tax or warranty purposes 
• Scan and deposit cheques 
• Get support or chat to a banker.

Other winners of 2023 Mozo Experts Choice Banking Apps Awards

As we said there were 8 winners of awards in this year’s Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Banking Apps. In addition to the 3 mentioned above, the other winners were Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Defence Bank, St George and Westpac.

To find out more about the winners and how they are chosen, check out the methodology report.

If you’re interested in opening a new bank account, you can compare options with Mozo.