Using Mobile Phones to Make Remote Check Deposits

Brad, at one point you mentioned allowing merchants to do something similar. Do you think this makes that scenario more or less likely?

Just thinking (typing) out loud, I think it throws the idea out the window. If any individual can do it, what is the value-add for the merchant to do it? If I knew I could take a picture w/ my iPhone and make deposit even though I know my local Joe’s coffee shop would do it, I’d just do it. And probably go get a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, b/c I prefer the coffee there (regardless of additional service).

Yeah, those were my thoughts, too. Just wondered if there might be a piece of the bigger picture that I was missing.

One thing I really noticed from this article was that Celent estimates over 5 million commercial establishments will have installed remote deposits by 2012. Well my argument is that I don’t think that that the demand for these services is that great. Debit/credit card transactions already greatly outnumber checks these days and I don’t see checks making a comeback. Do ya’ll think that the hardware will ever be cheap enough, and the bank’s underwriting requirements liberal enough to allow almost any merchant to have remote deposits?

I think this process only makes sense in the hands of the consumer. If merchants were to offer this service, it would really be no different than what people do now, which is to travel to a location to deposit a check. The idea is not that I drive to Wal-Mart to make a remote deposit to my credit union, but that I make a remote deposit to my account from my home (or on my phone), which makes the process more convenient.