Edward C. Baig

USA TODAY

NEW YORK — BankMobile CEO Jay Sidhu was pleased that I cover personal technology and not banking.

“We are a tech company that happens to (have) a bank charter,” Sidhu says, almost as if the latter were no big deal.

Of course, banking is anything but an afterthought to this longtime industry executive.

It is nearly a year to the day when this digital bank launched with the goal of becoming the Uber of banking, and Sidhu is beating the drum for what he says is America’s first no-fee, mobile, tablet and online bank, one with zero physical branches.

“Banking is the most antiquated industry that exists in the United States today,” Sidhu says.

There's been a big push the last couple of years to entice consumers to make payments, even at retail, by smartphone, and to otherwise monitor personal finances on the devices they carry with them. BankMobile's teller-in-your pocket strategy is to go after millennials, and the 68 million Americans overall who are classified as “under-banked” or “un-banked," though small business owners are also a target.

The pitch appears to be working. Since launch, BankMobile has attracted 100,000 customers, with Sidhu expecting to reach 2 million by July. He says most folks are coming over from the biggest banks: Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, PNC and Wells Fargo, in that order.

For its part, BankMobile is a Federal Reserve regulated and FDIC-insured division of Customers Bank, a $7.6 billion asset bank which Sidhu also runs.

BankMobile customers get free checking, a free high-yield saving account, and as with other banks, are issued an ATM card. That card carries no fees either, at least within a network of 55,000 ATMs. And if you agree to have your paycheck automatically direct-deposited, any fees collected by other ATMs will be reimbursed.

BankMobile also promises a savings account with at least a 0.25% higher annual percentage yield than the non-promotional interest rates offered by the top four banks in the country, regardless of how much is in your account. And you can transfer money across BankMobile accounts.

Customers can apply for a line of credit too, up to $5,000 max at a 9.9% interest rate. Payment terms are based on your outstanding balance in the account credit rating. You can make P2P payments as well, to pay off some cash to a friend or relative. In that space, BankMobile faces a lot of competition, from PayPal, Venmo, Facebook and others.

With no physical BankMobile branches, you’re meant to do most everything from the app, even pay a bill by snapping a picture of it.

Still, you won’t avoid all human contact. BankMobile promises you’ll get a call when you open an account. You’re also assigned a “personal banker” to provide assistance as needed.

Moreover, BankMobile has eliminated all the other fees charged by traditional banks, including the overdraft fees that amount to a huge source of revenue for those banks. Such overdraft fees totaled $32 billion in 2014, or more than Americans spend annually on vegetables.

For the purposes of this column, I opened my own BankMobile account with a modest deposit of $250. No minimum balance is required.

You sign up through the app, a procedure that if all goes well, shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes or so. Along the way, you enter an email address, password, select the account types you want to open (checking, savings, line of credit) and choose whether you would like accounts to be single or joint. You also snap a picture of your driver’s license or state ID, which automates much of the information that you need to supply. Before you’re approved, you must respond to some security questions as well. I was quizzed about prior employers and other loans I’ve opened.

I did hit one snag, but the human error was mine. I inadvertently entered a wrong Social Security number and my account was rejected. I was successful on a second try.

I ran into another problem when I tried funding the account via a transfer from a credit union account. I got a baffling error code instead and was told to contact that financial institution. Instead, I ended up funding my BankMobile account by snapping a picture of the front and back of a check I wrote to myself.

I also found the process of taking a picture of a bill to set up a one-time (or recurring) payment to be a bit tricky.

Having just signed up, I’m still waiting for a few starter checks and the BankMobile ATM card to arrive by mail.

BankMobile isn’t full service, yet. You can’t apply for a credit card through the app, though Sidhu says that will be coming as part of a BankMobile 2.0 upgrade next summer. You can’t apply for an auto loan or mortgage either.

Customers who deposit their paychecks directly to BankMobile do get an additional benefit, a half-hour consultation with a “financial coach,” who can weigh in on topics ranging from retirement planning to the best ways to finance a house. Investment advice will not be offered.

Also in the works is a family account option for distributing, say, an allowance to your kids through the app. And BankMobile promises a financial management tool that will let you view your financial picture across all your accounts, including those outside BankMobile.

BankMobile is even putting the finishing touches on a book: “Why Can’t Banks Be As Easy As Uber?” Sidhu is banking on his being the leading institution to answer that question.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech columnist @edbaig on Twitter

The bottom line

BankMobile

www.bankmobile.com

Pro. No fee checking, high yield savings, free ATM P2P, fast easy set-up. No overdraft fees. You can call personal banker.

Con. Some limitations on bank services for now. Ran into snag trying to transfer money into account. Some people will miss looking a banker in the eye at a branch.