Hate driving to the bank to deposit checks? A Wisconsin-based company called Fiserv has unveiled software that will let bank customers scan and deposit checks from home.
Individuals, no matter how enthusiastic about the technology, can’t buy directly and start using CheckFree Remote Deposit Capture for Consumers. Fiserv plans to sell the technology to banks, which will then turn around and offer it to customers, either as a premium service or a free perk.
“By offering consumer capture, financial institutions can quickly provide an online product that will attract new customers without regard to geographic territory; accelerating expansion beyond their brick and mortar branches,” said Mike Ringuette, executive vice president, Fiserv Global Payments.
The New York Times notes that “USAA, the financial services company that serves the military, has offered deposits through scanners for two years,” and apparently it’s popular. Dozens of USAA users left comments after the NYT story, praising the convenience of check-scanning.
Scanning checks is, no doubt, easier than depositing them manually, but it would be easier still to simply abandon checks for some entirely electronic system.
Perhaps each bank could offer a “Pay me money” widget that people could download and install on personal Web pages. People who owed you cash would click on the widget, fill out the payment info and the money would hit your bank account instantly.
