Mobile Banking Fees Are A Pain in the App

If you've been following this blog series for any length of time, you know that I believe that mobile banking is moving towards becoming a neccissity rather than an added bonus. If you've never experienced the sheer pleasure of depositing a check via your phone rather than taking time out of your day to swing by a branch, you haven't lived.  

Of course, with all good things must come dreaded fees. Several banks are experimenting with the idea of incorporating fees into mobile banking transctions. Want to deposit a check via your iPhone and have it available tomorrow? $5, please.  From USA Today:

Slowly but surely, banks are experimenting with ways to build charges into the apps' features—some for simple check deposits, others for instantaneous bill pay. As apps get higher-tech, too, a simple convenience could become costly.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial rolled out its mobile banking app this spring with a tiered fee structure, based on when the customer needed access to funds deposited digitally. For immediate availability, which is a risk to the bank because it then doesn't have time to verify the fees, customers must pay $5, or a percentage of the deposit—whichever is higher. For access two days later, once the funds are verified, the fee is 50 cents—the same fee Minneapolis-based US Bank introduced for all mobile deposits in 2010. It was the first bank to initiate such fees.

Instead of looking at this as a way to squeeze another dollar out of customers, why aren't financial institutions looking at this as the blessing it is? For every check I deposit using my phone that's one trip I don't have to make to your branch, which means less wait time for other customers. In my eyes this is like charging to use an in-branch ATM. Why?

What do you think of mobile banking fees? Let us know in the comment section below! 

DeAndré

DeAndre Upshaw is a former Young & Free Texas Spokester. He's a marketing professional living in Dallas and a Beyonce enthusiast. DeAndre is the host and executive producer of The State of Awesome. Follow him on Twitter and check out his personal website.