T-Mobile Money, a mobile-first checking account, has launched nationwide, the telecom giant announced today.
The company touts the app as a no-fee, easy-to-use account through which T-Mobile customers can earn 4% interest on their balances up to $3,000 if they deposit at least $200 each month, and 1% on every dollar over that. Non-customers of the mobile service can still earn 1% on all balances.
Accounts will have FDIC-insured protection up to $250,000, thanks to a partnership with BankMobile, which is the digital-only arm of Customers Bank.
Customers get a Mastercard debit card, money management tools, mobile check deposits, P2P transfers and the ability to pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, all in-app. The app also offers biometric security via fingerprint and Face ID login, account alerts and debit card disabling.
The app has been available in a limited pilot since November 2018. Tiffany Minor, Director of Marketing for Financial Services Business at T-Mobile, told Bank Innovation that the company was “surprised at the excitement level” indicated in the opt-in survey results from pilot customers. She said there was a double-digit percentage of respondents who said they were using the app as a primary account, while the “bulk” of respondents said they “expect to use it more.”
“They were really all positive indicators,” Minor said.
Asked whether there were any plans to expand offerings beyond checking account services into savings, wealth management or loan products, Minor said T-Mobile is focused on solving pain points in checking for now.
T-Mobile Money isn’t the company’s first foray into banking. It launched Mobile Money in 2014 in an attempt to help consumers avoid fees using a Visa prepaid card and the Mobile Money app. That service shut down in mid-2016. Minor said the company learned a lot about customer behavior and expectations from that initiative and applied a lot of those insights to the new venture.






