Verizon Mobile Banking Available for BlackBerry

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on July 17, 2008 11:51 AM

Verizon Wireless customers with the BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Pearl8130 and BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphones can now use Verizon Wireless' Mobile Banking application. Also available on a number of popular Get It Now-capable phones, Mobile Banking offers customers the following capabilities and features on their handsets:

Account Balance and Transaction History -- Get account balances and account transaction history.
Transfers -- Transfer funds between eligible accounts at the same financial institution.
Bill Payment -- View and pay bills when enrolled in their financial institution's Bill Pay service.
Mobile History -- View the last five transactions successfully completed on their mobile devices.

Verizon Wireless customers must be account holders of a financial institution that offers Mobile Banking to enroll in the application. Currently Wachovia, Regions, SunTrust, USAA, Synovus, America First Credit Union (AFCU), Arvest, Bancorp South, FirstBank, South Financial and BECU offer the service. Once customers sign up for Mobile Banking through their financial institutions' online banking site, they will receive an eight digit secure initialization code that will allow them to access the Mobile Banking application on their phones.

Mobile Banking is a safe and secure application, offering customers the following security measures: multi-factor authentication including initialization codes and six-digit PIN requirements; lock out after three invalid PIN entries; use of account nicknames instead of account numbers; encrypted transactions; time out of application after two minutes on Choose PIN screen and 10 minutes on other screens; and lost device functionality, which disables the application. In addition, funds can only be transferred between accounts that are set up with online access, and Bill Pay payees cannot be set up or edited on the phone.

To get Mobile Banking, Verizon Wireless customers with the BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Pearl 8130 and the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition can go to the Home screen on their handsets and select the BlackBerry® Browser icon to go to the VZ Start home page. Once there, click on the Mobile Banking link to download the application. VZ Start home page can also be accessed by going to https://mobile.vzw.com from the browser. There is no monthly charge for the application, although data charges may apply.

Mobile Banking is also available on a number of Get It Now-capable phones in the Tools on the Go shopping aisle of the Get It Now virtual store for no additional monthly charge. Mobile Banking-capable phones include the Voyager by LG, Venus by LG and LG VX9400; MOTORAZR maxx Ve and MOTORAZR2 V9m; and Verizon Wireless FlipShotby Samsung, Verizon Wireless Juke by Samsung and Alias by Samsung. Airtime or megabyte charges apply for sending and receiving data using Get It Now, depending on the plan. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled phone and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.