I love banking, don't get me wrong (I used to be in the industry,) but making that extra trip always seems so cumbersome, doesn't it? I mean, you have to wait in line, you have to fill out a slip, you have to ask the teller your account number because you forgot it, etc. It all feels so... analog. Frankly, I love my bank because they can do so many things online and have continued to provide reliable digital services... I haven't written a check in years. That being said, one bank is taking the digital revolution a step further with their Deposit@Mobile program... USAA.
Truth be told, it's no big secret that digital copies have been accepted as legal checks for quite some time due to the advent of Check 21... a federal program enabling just that. In fact, some banks will even give your check back to you at the counter; all they need to do is scan it in, and send an electronic copy to the paying institution.
So, why not do this via your iPhone, eh? USAA has a slick iPhone only application available on the App Store (to qualifying members) that allows you to easily take an image of your check and make a mobile deposit, from anywhere you have a wireless connection available. Sadly, not everyone will qualify for a USAA account.... check their website for details.
Even though bank customers are notoriously slow to catch on to technology like this, I'm hoping this fuels a new revolution in banking and gets us one step closer to stamping out the painfully old and outdated procedure of writing paper checks; which is not only bad for the environment in terms of wasting paper, but bad for people in terms of wasting time. Can you imagine the possibilities? There could not only be mobile banking applications tailored to each gadget or each phone, but also banking specific gadgets... wow.
I'm hoping that soon, I'll be able to give this great service a shot... every bank should offer something similar, no?
