Bank allows depositing of checks using iPhone Camera, $1.5 million deposited

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

United Services Automobile Association bank, a privately held Texas based bank and insurance company, which operates almost entirely online has started to accept checks from its customers via an update to the bank’s iPhone Application. The bank is putting an depositing ATM in everyone’s pocket. Line the check up with the green bars and the iPhone allows its owner to scan the anterior and posterior of the check using its camera. Once the user press the send button, the image goes to the bank’s deposit-taking system just like an ordinary check and the bank will credit the deposit to that customer’s account. That’s all the customer has to do. There is no need to send the check by mail later, because the image is handled electronically. The bank suggests voiding the check or discarding it to prevent fraud. Once the check image is sent via the iPhone, funds can usually be available for withdrawal immediately using your ATM card.

Some necessary security measures taken by the bank include providing iPhone check depositing services only to those customers who are either having some insurance through the bank, or are eligible for credit with USAA. The credit account requirement is there to make sure that the bank can charge you if the check is found to be fake. About 60% of the customers meet this criteria.

It’s found that just three percent of mobile-banking customers use iPhones now. This number is expected to increase as networks become faster and iPhone use become more prolific in the near future. The chief advantage of this unique depositing service is the time savings. No more running to the bank after receiving your paycheck. There is no need to worry about safety of your deposits even if you lose your iPhone. Since only deposits can be made via this application, iPhone hackers will have a hard time withdrawing from your bank account.

This unique service has been launched for just a few days, and around $1.5 million in checks have already been deposited using this application. More than 58,000 users updated their accounts and this application has been installed around 150.000 times.

In today’s hectic world, convenience is important to many people, an app that let people deposit checks without going to the bank is a real winner. So let us welcome this great service launched by the USAA bank, and hope other major banks will follow soon.