Upcoming technology from Fiserv, a financial IT services company, will soon make it possible to deposit checks virtually, from anywhere equipped with a scanner and wifi. Users will be able to wave goodbye to long waits at their local branch, and tellers and even ATMs could be dethroned by Fiserv’s service value and rewards. And it’s no surprise that the service-over-geo location mindset is impacting banking. We already purchase our cable, mortgage and prescription drugs without knowing where the closest branches are, because few consumers care who the man behind the curtain is as long as they’re getting what they want.
The scanning process is a quick 4 step process: users log-in to their online banking site, activate the Fiserv software, enter their deposit amount and scan both sides of the check. The whole transaction should take less time than filling out a credit slip and waiting in a branch line. While taking location out of the equation has been in bank business plans for years, at-home check scanning has only been available to small and medium businesses through Fiserv and to military members through USAA. With this service now being passed on to consumers, it may become as commonplace as online banking, moving us even closer to the reality of a paperless world.
And as an added benefit, the extinction of bank slips and ATM envelopes means the end of ‘empty envelope’ fraud (this no-check crime accounts for more than 50% of ATM fraud according to a Diebold report). Of course, though, the flip side of the coin is that new safety measures will have to be put into place for scanning checks, as current scanners are not able to detect anti-fraud features embedded in paper such as special stock and watermarks.
[via Chicago Tribune]
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While novel in concept, this idea feels dead in the water. We’ve been paying vendors on-line, and receiving payment (from Coca-Cola and others) via electronic transfers for a couple of years and I expect adoption of this protocol will far out-pace anything requiring a scanner or another peripheral device.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
This is true Rick, but so many businesses still use checks. I use this this service with USAA and it’s super convenient and takes no time at all. The money is in my account instantly. It makes sense for USAA to utilize this since as far as I know there is only one branch bank location. Before this the only option was depositing by mail which would take several days.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:14 pm