Checking your balance on your phone – simpler than it sounds
Want to know how much money is in your account, without going to a branch or calling a phone line? You can check it in a few moments using your banking app – a special program on your phone that connects to your account at the bank. This guide will show you, step by step, how to do it. You do not need to know anything beforehand – you just need a phone that already has your bank's app installed on it.
Do not worry if something feels unfamiliar. You cannot break anything by looking at your balance. At worst you will need to try again – it is completely normal for the first few tries in a new app to take a little patience.
Step by step: how to see your account balance
- Pick up your phone and wake up the screen by pressing the button on its side or top.
- Look for the icon of your banking app – a small, colourful square picture with your bank's logo, usually sitting among the other icons on your phone's home screen.
- Tap that icon once with your finger to open the app.
- Wait a few seconds – your bank's logo may appear on the screen before the app fully loads. That is normal.
- Log in to the app by entering your PIN – a short, secret number you chose the first time you set up the app – or by placing your finger on the fingerprint reader, if you turned on fingerprint login before.
- Wait for the app's main screen to load – you will see a list of your accounts on it.
- Look for the name of your account, for example "Personal Account" – it is usually written in larger text near the top of the screen.
- Look at the number next to that name – this is your balance, the exact amount of money you have in your account right now.
If you want to see more details, such as your recent payments, tap the account name or the amount itself. This will open the account's transaction history.
What to do if something goes wrong
Cannot remember your app PIN? Do not keep guessing – after a few wrong attempts, the app may lock itself for safety. Instead, look for a "Forgot PIN" option inside the app, or call your bank's customer service line using the number printed on your payment card.
App will not open or keeps freezing? Try closing it completely and opening it again. Also check that you have an internet connection turned on (Wi-Fi or mobile data) – the app needs this connection to show your current balance.
Balance looks different than you expected? This is not a reason to panic. A new payment, a card fee, or a transfer you forgot about may have gone through. Tap the account to see its transaction history and check what changed. If, after checking the history, something still worries you, call your bank at the number printed on your card.
Watch out for scammers. If someone calls saying they are from your bank and then asks you to read out a code from a text message or your app password "to check your balance" – this is a scam. A real bank never asks for this information over the phone. Hang up and call the bank yourself, using the number printed on the back of your card, to check what is going on.
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