T-Mobile Will Now Give You A Free Checking Account, Complete With 42,000 No-Fee ATMs

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/t-mobile-mobile-money-2014-1

T-Mobile isn't just content being your wireless carrier. It now wants to manage your checking account, too.

The company announced today Mobile Money, a free checking account service available to anyone with a T-Mobile phone number.

With T-Mobile's Mobile Money, your wireless carrier is your bank. T-Mobile retail stores are your banking branches. T-Mobile retail employees are your tellers. And while it sounds bizarre, it's just another example of a company trying to remove the banks from banking. (Mobile Money is very similar to Simple, another promising alternative banking service.)

Here's how it works:

• You walk into a T-Mobile store and open your checking account with an initial cash deposit. T-Mobile gives you a prepaid Visa card. (You'll eventually get your own debit card with your name on it.)
• You deposit cash to your account at the T-Mobile store and checks by snapping a photo of the document using the T-Mobile Mobile Money app for iPhone or Android.
• To get cash, you can make withdrawals (no fees!) from a network of 42,000 ATMs that you can find using the app. There's also a network of international ATMs that you can use for free.
• You can transfer money to other Mobile Money customers using the app if you have the person's T-Mobile phone number and last four digits of his or her debit card.
• You pay your bills electronically using the app or T-Mobile's website. You can also have T-Mobile cut a check and send it to someone if that's your only option.

Mobile Money is totally free except for the occasional fee you might have to pay for stuff like same-day bill payments.

But it's not for everyone, of course. T-Mobile is only offering free checking, not savings accounts or any of the other premium services traditional banks offer. It's simply an option for T-Mobile customers who want to easily move money in their checking accounts around. If you need more than that, you're probably better off with your regular bank.

Join the conversation about this story »