Which online banks offer text messaging?

November 3, 2006 7:13 PM

Do any United States credit cards/banks send text alerts when transactions take place? I am looking for one that will send me a text alert when something is charged or withdrawn from my accounts. Are any online banks especially savvy and up to date on such things (even if they don't offer text)?

It looks like a credit service in the UK does this, but it would be an amazing feature to have -- I'd be willing to switch for it. I am not looking for an e-mail solution.

posted by geoff. to Work & Money (10 answers total)

If you did find an e-mail solution but not a text-message solution, I think that there are both software and services out there that can forward e-mails to you as text messages.
posted by winston at 7:27 PM on November 3, 2006

I second the 'I would switch banks for this feature'. Looking for a US bank as well.
posted by SirStan at 7:47 PM on November 3, 2006

What state do you live in? Two banks I can think of off the top of my head that do this are Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
posted by phoenixy at 8:04 PM on November 3, 2006

What United States cell phone carriers don't have an email-to-sms gateway? Verizon does, Cingular does, Tmobile does, Sprint does ... so what's the problem with e-mail?
posted by dmd at 8:21 PM on November 3, 2006

Chase does it. Here's a demo.
posted by visual mechanic at 8:46 PM on November 3, 2006

My BofA checking account will do that. I think my Wells Fargo account will to. BofA does send an SMS if you want. You can set it so if a charge is made over X dollars or whatnot so you don't get a million messages. Wells Fargo sends a short email. As mentioned above I'm pretty sure all US cell carriers have email via SMS.
posted by birdherder at 9:44 PM on November 3, 2006

Wachovia does it; it has balance alerts, withdraw/charge over $x alert, etc. Unfortunately they are also sometimes up to 24 hours LATE, but they do have them.
I'd have preferred instantaneous or as close to it as I can get.
posted by willmize at 1:39 AM on November 4, 2006

I have chase, they too send emails when a purchase over a certain amount is made, when a certain balance is reached on the card, when statement is due, that sort of thing. Takes at least 24 hours per email, but I'm reasonably happy with the service. Plus, the rewards program is for amaz*n.com gift certificates.
posted by enfa at 6:02 AM on November 4, 2006

Just to confirm what others have speculated about. My bank, Wells Fargo, does this. You can set up email or sms alerts for every account, for every deposit or withdrawal, for when your balance goes above or below a threshold, for when a specific check (with check #) has been deposited, etc.

They're a physical bank but have always been savvy about online stuff. I believe in fact they were the first bank to offer online banking and wikipedia backs me up:

"Wells Fargo launched its PC banking service in 1989 and was the first bank to introduce access to banking accounts on the Web in May 1995."
posted by vacapinta at 6:50 AM on November 4, 2006

Okay, I checked an in addition to banks folks have mentioned (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Wachovia) other banks that do this are Citibank, Citizens Bank and Capital One.
posted by phoenixy at 8:52 AM on November 4, 2006