Who Needs ATMs? Bank Lets You Deposit Checks with Your iPhone
Who Needs ATMs? Bank Lets You Deposit Checks with Your iPhone
Posted 08/10/2009 at 1:21pm
| by Paul Lilly
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Don't be surprised if future generations giggle at how you used to do your banking by actually driving to the branch and punching buttons on a bulky ATM. Already at least one bank is looking to the future and will soon allow iPhone owners to deposit checks through their Apple-branded smartphone.
Once USAA, a privately held bank and insurance company, updates its iPhone application, customers who want to deposit checks digitally need only take a photo of each side of the check using the iPhone's built-in camera.
"We're essentially taking an image of the check, and once you hit the send button, that image is going into our deposit-taking system as any other check would," said Wayne Peacock, a USAA executive vice president.
Once submitted, customers can hold onto the physical check for safe keeping or discard it - there won't be any need to mail the check to the bank.
Not everyone will be able to use the new service, however. To reduce fraud, only customers who are eligible for credit and who own some kind of insurance policy through USAA can use the new service. Peacock estimates that about 60 percent of the bank's customers will qualify.
Image Credit: Apple via USAA
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d_sellers1
August 11, 2009 at 6:14pm
I've been a USAA member since 2001. They've got great rates, services, and customer service. Not everyone is eligible to be a member though:
From https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=become_member_main
- Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.
- Children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product.1
- National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
- Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).
- Former military personnel:
- Retired officers and enlisted personnel.
- Former officers and enlisted personnel who separated from the military on or after January 1, 1996.
Deposit@Home is a great feature that I've used a few times to deposit a few checks. Funds are available instantly after scanning the check.
Derek
Yorick
August 11, 2009 at 11:15am
For those that don't know, Deposit@Home is a service that lets a USAA member scan a check on their home scanner and deposit it into his or her bank account. The funds are immediately available which I've always liked. Only thing I don't like is that the Java based deposit program is only compatile with IE not FF. I hope they don't limit this new App to only iPhones.
Vegan
August 10, 2009 at 4:41pm
I'd rather have the amount of time that a check takes to process be quicker. It's ridiculous that, in this digital age, it takes days or weeks for two banks to work things out and agree that a check has, indeed, cleared.
stige
August 11, 2009 at 12:11am
talked to my bank about that and apparently they contract out ATMs, even the ones in the branch. which means if you deposit a check in the ATM (keep in mind they don't know what's actually in the envelope, yet). at the end of the day the envelopes are removed and brought to a sorting facility. then they're scanned in to the system the following day and sent to the bank at the end of that day. they are "cleared" the business day after that. that's why i never use the ATM to deposit, if i ever have to make a physical deposit.
USAA is an awesome company, btw. you may only become a member and sign up for their services if you are on active military duty. the military has been using DD for payroll for many years so the primary impetus for this is not likely to be legions of people trying to deposit payroll checks.
this is very cool, imho. i hate going to the bank branch. waiting in line makes me grumpy, especially when it's for a small personal check or somesuch.
MightyMouse
August 11, 2009 at 6:07am
you dont have to be an active duty military person to join USAA. if a parent was a vet you can join as a child of a vetern. My son is a member for that reason. Also if you are a vetern of the armed forces you can join after you exit the military. I have no complants with USAA. They will bend over backwards to help you. They will even look for you a car, and then report back to you what they found. They have had Deposit @ home for some time now. It is nice that they are taking it to the next level.
Caboose
August 10, 2009 at 2:34pm
No kidding. This will help those that can't DD through their place of employment, or for the times where you are given a cheque.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
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