Banking apps on a simple phone: how to solve it

Why a locked calling screen can't run banking apps

A phone that must be easy to call from removes choices. A phone that must run banking, payments and identification needs to keep them, along with a browser and an app store. Both cannot live on the same screen at once, which is why many households use two phones instead.

One more thing some families see as an advantage: since the calling screen has no browser, no app store and no banking apps, nobody can be talked into logging in with a bank ID or sending money from that phone. If keeping banking on the same device works well, an ordinary smartphone is a perfectly reasonable choice — it mostly comes down to habit and the support around the person.

The two-phone setup

The most common arrangement: a locked phone that always sits out and always works for calls, and the old smartphone kept in a drawer or a bag for the times banking is needed.

The old phone does not necessarily need its own plan — bank ID and payment apps work over home wi-fi, since they are tied to the mobile number and the bank ID identity rather than to the SIM card in that particular phone. Note that some banks send a one-time SMS code when the number is first connected, so you need access to the phone holding the SIM at that moment.

• The calling phone: always on, six faces, nothing else.
• The old phone: banking, payments, health services — picked up when needed.
• Cost: no new plan required for the second phone — but check with the bank how the number is connected.

If banking is handled independently

Then the ordinary smartphone should of course stay. A locked calling screen is a complement here, not a replacement: many use the CallByFace phone every day for calls and pick up the ordinary one when something needs signing.

If banking can no longer be handled alone, that is a different question from phone choice — it is about power of attorney, and it belongs with the bank.

What to check before the switch

Go through this before the old phone is put away.

• Which number should move to the calling phone? Usually the old mobile number.
• Is the identification app tied to the old phone? It stays there and keeps working.
• Are SMS codes from the bank needed? Then the SIM must sit in the phone that receives them.
• Who helps with banking from now on, if help is wanted?