Scanning Your Money To The Bank

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By Saul Hansell

Here’s advance word of another bit of Rorschach technology: Some people will look at is a great innovation; others as a solution to a problem they don’t have.

Soon you will be able to deposit checks by scanning them at home and sending them electronically to your bank. No need to visit a branch or even an ATM.

This is possible because of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, passed in 2003, which allows banks to exchange electronic images of checks. Already about half of all checks are scanned by businesses or the banks they are deposited into and not shipped in bags back to the banks on which they were drawn.

Fiserv, the big transaction services company, has announced new software that will enable banks to let home users deposit checks by scanning them. It already has a similar service for small and medium businesses. USAA, the financial services company that serves the military, has offered deposits through scanners for two years, but the idea has not yet caught on.

The time is right for such a service, said Rodney Springhetti, a Fiserv vice president of business development. The technology has been debugged through several years of working with businesses, and meanwhile consumers increasingly have scanners at home, largely in the form of all-in-one printer units.

To use the service, consumers would sign onto their bank’s Web site, activate a piece of software, type in the amount, and then scan the front and back side of each check they want to deposit. The bank has the option of immediately sending the check image to be cleared or to have a human review it first.

Mr. Springhetti said that some banks may charge an extra fee for this service, but others may give it free to customers. He expects it will be especially popular among brokerage firms and banks that deal with more affluent customers.

Fraud, of course, is an issue. Where there are scanners, of course, there may be Photoshop. And a scanner can’t detect all the anti-fraud features now built into paper checks, such as special stock and watermarks. Banking groups are developing new anti-fraud technologies that can be detected by scanners, but these have not been widely deployed. Unlike credit cards, which have strict federal anti-fraud rules, each bank sets its own policies for check fraud.

Still, Mr. Springhetti, said there are ways to combat fraud. Fiserv and others do have software meant to analyze images for signs of fakery. And there are other models that look for suspicious patterns of behavior that may indicate fraud.

Put me down in the category of people who would be glad to use this sort of thing, assuming it was free. Diverting myself to make a deposit in the bank adds nothing to my life.

But it also shows that there is something seriously out of whack about the way the banking system has evolved.

In the electronic age, there really isn’t a need to use paper at all to get money from one bank’s computer to another bank’s computer. But the system of routing and account numbers used for direct deposit is simply too cumbersome to use for payments. It can’t be that hard to figure out a better way. But for now, we’re either going to the bank or trying to get our scanners to work right.

I’ve been using it with USAA (as you mention) for quite some time. It’s great, especially since the bank doesn’t have any local ATMs, so I used to have to mail deposits. It’s super easy!

†Posted by Michael P.

As Michael, I have used USAA’s service occasionally over the past couple years.

While it is easy, it’s even easier to fill out the deposit slip and drop the checks into the prepaid preaddressed envelopes from the bank.

Since it is rare that I have a large or important check to deposit and need the funds right away, I don’t see the upside of the scanning process.

†Posted by Bill G

I have also been using the USAA check scanning service since it’s inception. The service works very well. I’ve never had a problem depositing a check. Other banks could save their customers plenty of time by offering this great service.

†Posted by Rob Safuto

This is really the only way to go. I too have been using USAA’s Deposit@Home system for quite a while and it makes everything incredibly simple. I’m surprised this didn’t catch on earlier.

†Posted by Bobby G.

Been using USAA for years. I didn’t think it was anything special….

†Posted by Sid

I, too, have been using this service offered by USAA. There’s something very satisfying about receiving a check in the mail on Saturday afternoon and depositing it electronically that same day. It is credited to your account immediately, so that it is available to cover checks you have written or to begin earning interest, as the case may be.

No trip to the bank, no deposit slip, no envelope, no postage. And, of course, I wouldn’t be using the service it weren’t free.

†Posted by Dan Corcoran

QUOTE the system of routing and account numbers used for direct deposit is simply too cumbersome to use for payments UNQUOTE

Only if you have susages for fingers! You really think for most people scanning a check is easier than keying-in a few numbers?

In most Home Banking web sites you only enter the number once for each payee. The payment info is then ready for you to use any time, anywhere.

Have your bank enroll you at your local Community College for Computer Science 101: “The Keyboard Numberical Keys and How to Use Them.”

†Posted by jahman

I’m also a USAA member and LOVE this service. It’s super easy once you’ve configured your scanner to scan in b&w at 200 dpi. The money is instantly available as well. USAA is definitely on the cutting edge due to their geographically scattered customer base.

†Posted by Mark S.

This is a fantastic idea, and one whose time is overdue. It’s amazing to still hear banks explain delays with the ludicrous “since this state is from out of state, it must be mailed across the country for your check to clear.”

I’m told some banks just use the Check Clearing Act as a way to make more money on the float - while they have processed your check electronically, they make money on the 5 business days that elapse between them receiving your funds and releasing them to you.

I use Schwab (why not get all the benefits of a free checking account at a retail bank- AND earn interest on your money), and need to make deposits by mail, so this would be a massive convenience.

Damien Madness and Petulance http://madpet.wordpress.com

†Posted by Damien Taylor

I’ve tried it with USAA a half dozen times without success, including spending phone time with the bank’s tech reps. I was told it was because my HP Multifunction laser printer/scanner/copier was too old. Well, it works just fine doing those functions otherwise. Don’t bother anymore - why waste anymore of my time, I send the deposits by mail.

†Posted by FredCW

I envy the USAA customers.

The idea of processing paper still seems rather tedious. I’d still be interested in using the service since checks tend to sit on my desk for a week before I deposit them. I can definitely see HSBC Online and/or ING Direct being the other banks that will try this scanning technology in the near future - as I would have to mail physical checks in directly (which is a reason I still also have a brick and mortar bank).

Internet only banks like ING Direct have tried to cut out the paper equation directly by having truly electronic checking. The only downside is most people are still weary of entering banking information online.

The service allows you to send personal electronic checks to individuals. The recepient receives an e-mail indicating that you’ve sent them a check. They then have to enter their banking information on ING’s website to get the transfer of funds. Hence, the apprehension with some of my recipients.

The addition of this scanning technology would make a truly internet bank even more convenient.

†Posted by Jonas P

Frankly, this scares me. How can I be sure that someone won’t scan deposit my check to 1 account, and then, several days later, deposit it to an account in another bank?

†Posted by LH

Guess I am suprised that other banks aren’t offering a similiar capability to USAA’s Deposit@Home service. For me, as one of their widely dispersed customers, it is an absolutely easy and valuable service. Just another application of technology to make things less complicated.

†Posted by G B Josephson

I’m currently living in the Czech Republic, where the concept of paper checks is apparently unknown. I don’t write a rent check to my landlord, for example. Instead, I have his account number and his bank’s routing number. I used this to connect online to my bank and authorize a recurring transfer of funds from my account to his. So, if the Czechs have figured out how to bypass paper in favor of using of account numbers and routing numbers, I should think that American banks & customers should be able to do likewise!

†Posted by Doris

A negative side to the Check Clearing Act: if a bank does not return the physical check, and you need it for a lawsuit or criminal investigation, you’ll have problems. For example,if you have to prove you paid something many years ago (for instance to get a rental deposit back, or if you paid first month/last month), the photo-reduced copy you get on a bank statement does not always hold up as proof in court in a suit. With no original, you will be up the creek.

Also, my bank statements only show an image of the front of the checks, and information like the deposit signature isn’t shown. Proving fraud then becomes a problem. Also, the bank doesn’t have to retain the image after a certain number of years. This legislation seems passed solely to benefit the banking industry, and the side effects ignored. Thank you, Congress.

†Posted by Walt D

Living in Germany for the past 6 years, I haven’t even seen a check. The concept here is somehow a bit laughable, as payment online through internet banking is the absolute norm, and bank transfers take less than a minute to complete.

†Posted by Evan Thede

My comment is #2 above and reading over those that followed were quite interesting. The entire value of the USAA scanning service is immediate access to your money, if not for that, mailing the checks is less time consuming and still free.

†Posted by Bill G

This will certainly benefit people who use an internet bank for their checking account. These accounts pay a good rate and reimburse ATM fees that other banks charge for using their ATM.

But with all of the benefits that an internet account offers, there remains one major hassle - getting money into the account.

Sending checks by mail is the main option for people who use this as their only bank account. A scanner would greatly improve the usefulness (and convenience) of an internet checking account.

Jon http://www.emoneycentral.com

†Posted by Jon

-

maybe it time the USA learned from the European IBAN account number scheme.

Simple electronic Internet Bank transfers between companies and individuals is a daily occurance in Europe.

In the country of Latvia where I have lived for 9 years now, no one has ever seen a paper check. They are unheard of.

It can be done easily and safely - USA

†Posted by Riga Rooster

Also use USAA home deposit. No worries about your mail being lost, or whether you have the right postage. Other advantages have been posted by others. Besides, it’s one of the few times I use my scanner. But if they start charging for it, I’ll return to regular mail. Don’t expect USAA to charge though, they have been leaders in good technology and common sense. I haven’t used a local bank in years.

†Posted by Manny C.

I moved to Switzerland last year and they have eliminated this problem by eliminating checks. Everything is done by electronic banking. There are no checks. Works great!

†Posted by Mark

There is an easier way than moving paper. Using the same infrastructure that brought about direct deposit and Check 21 (the automated clearinghouse system), a number of banks, ING Direct being one, let you send money to anybody with their account and routing numbers–the numbers at the bottom of the check.

However, try asking random people that information. What do you think will happen if you ask your neighbor for that info. As the bank points out, if you wrote a paper check, it would come back with the same information on the back. The US banking infrastructure is there and it exists, the problem is with the users who hang on to paper.

†Posted by Jon S

In the UK the on-line payment systems are terribly simple. Every account has a six digit sort code (ie. 00-00-00), which is equivalent to the ABA code in the US, and an account number which is eight digits. Very easy and I can bang in a new payment faster than I can write a cheque. Presumably it’s also much cheaper for the banks than handling all that paper.

The US system can be cumbersome, particularly if you’re using a broker. If I want someone to make a direct payment into my Fidelity account I first need to figure out what means they’re going to use to send the money (wire, ABA transfer, international wire) and then give them a whole slew of numbers based on that information. It’s a pain and with that many numbers I have to believe the chances of an error are increased.

†Posted by Fred Glick

I’m perplexed by the hubbub over this “cutting edge” technology. In Europe such transactions are done by bank transfers from the convenience of one’s home. I have not had to deposit or write a check in 25 years and my account statements are available to me electronically off-line. The bank - which is not “Internet Only - rewards me for going paperless with a 50 (Euro) cent credit per transaction to boot. Or have I missed something?

†Posted by Tom

I live in Belgium and our banks are centuries ahead of U.S. banks. I access my account in my bank on the Web. I type in the amount to pay, make a checkmark at the name of the recipient which has his bank details and retains it for future payments. I sign the payment by using a small plastic gadget which resembles a pocket computer and works with info provided by the bank when I log in. The software then tells me my new balance. I can make payments to ANY COUNTRY in the Euro area! The payment is transferred immediately AND I can do this at any time of day or any day. I think that someone in the bank actuates all of the transfers at once - no need for individual attention to each transfer.

†Posted by Robert A Williams

USAA is an amazing company and the checkscanning service is good–when it works. The scanning is done through a Java application via website and it takes time to scan both sides of each check and crop and align the images per the application’s requirements.

About 30% of my checks fail to make it through the system somehow, and the reasons are never clear. It isn’t a scanning issue, as I have three different scanners and am quite proficient at using them. When each check has a 30% chance of failing, it is hardly worth your time to bother scanning when you’re reasonably likely to have to fill out a deposit form anyway. So, that’s what I usually do.

This idea needs a better software solution.

†Posted by T Enders

I too am generally pleased with USAA. However, not because of Deposit@home. I teach online so one of my paychecks (still paper!) is from an out-of-state account. The local bank puts a 7 day hold on it so I figured Deposit@home would be a great way around that.

No such luck.

USAA requires customers to have a credit account in addition to the checking account. I don’t think I should have to have their credit card in order to use a banking services which saves everyone time and money.

And while we’re on the subject of electronic transfers, can anyone explain why when I try to submit electronic payments TO banks they require you to “schedule” the payment, which always involves a 2 - 4 day delay in processing.

Funny, that the utilities, cable, etc. immediately debit payments. Oh that’s right, the banks want to sock you with a $25+ fee for “instant” processing.

So much for EVERYone benefitting from 21st century technology!

†Posted by Aching for the 21st century

Yes Jonas and this is the truly revolutionary aspect of this feature. There is no longer any advantage in using a bank which has local branches. A bank which is on the other side of your city or for that matter on the other side of the country now becomes just as convenient as your local corner bank. I see a sea change in competition between normal physical banks and those who exist only electronically. International banking anyone?

†Posted by herbert rust

Having used USAA Deposit@Home feature since it first came out, I have been generally pleased with it.

However, I recently tried to deposit a check from a company that used a “grayed over” numerical amount field. This was used by that company as one of many security features. The word version of the dollar amount was written out as text and in a plain background.

USAA’s scan Deposit@Home software can NOT read words. Also it can NOT compare the numerical amount with the written text amount on a deposited check.

Therefore, USAA rejected by $139 check deposit. I had to take that check to my local Wells Fargo branch, where I keep a seperate checking account just when USAA cannot do what other banks can do.

The American Banker’s Accociation (ABA) has check cashing standards where the written amount on a check can be used for a deposit if the numerical amount is in question. Per USAA customer service, USAA has their OWN standards and does not follow ABA standards.

There is excellent retail image software available today, for about $399, that can read text and convert that into digital values. Why is USAA not having its software supplier use such products and integrating it into their Deposit@Home services?

†Posted by Doug

I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but what do you do with the scanned checks after you make the deposit? Shred them?

†Posted by John F

USAA Federal Savings Bank is The Bomb. The bank is in San Antonio, TX but you can perform any banking function from anywhere in the world that has internet access. They’ve been a dream to bank with for years and put other financial institutions to shame. If you are a current or ex-military Officer, Warrant Officer or NCO and don’t bank with them you’re making a big mistake. Not only is the Home Deposit by scanner so easy a 6 year old could do it they have other great benefits like real live, honest to goodness, no strings attached NO FEES! If I am charged a fee at another bank’s ATM it is refunded to my account by USAA on my next monthly statement. How many people do you know that would say theses things about their bank? Hello…BofA, CitiCorp and other mega-banks, get a clue.

†Posted by Kris W

There is no need for a cheat to alter or make a duplicate copy of a check; they still have the original to deposit into another account. Preventing this depends on how quickly a transaction is logged to a central clearing house.

†Posted by Morris Hirsch

Will a pdf attachment work the same as a scan?

†Posted by Lydia B

I will use it. I have a $25.00 check right now that has been in my wallet for weeks…who goes near a bank?

†Posted by Ken G

They call scanning a check innovation?!? It is ridiculous to see how far behind the US banking system is. How about getting rid of checks like the EU did long ago. I am an American living in Germany and checks here are relics of the past. If you want to send someone money here, you get their account number/bank code and do it online through a secure system using special codes for each transaction. It’s so much safer and easier. No check books, no scanning no signature fraud. A few strokes of the keyboard and done.

†Posted by Sarah

You might be able to deposit a check quickly by scanning, but your bank might wait even longer before that money is made available to you. Right now, many banks delay deposits for at least 5 business days for checks over $5,000. For larger checks, the delay is even longer.

It is distressing that the Fed, who regulates these banks, allows such delays and leaves it to the bank’s discretion.

†Posted by R M Nadkanri

no one has mentioned how sicure this thing is. is it hacker proof? meaning wouldn’t it be easy for someone with ill will to steal someone identity and everything else that is preprinted on the check? how safe is this new technology?

†Posted by Rosa

The probability of theft is too great in the form described, but a confirmation e-mail could be sufficient. At electronic speeds the depositor and the poster of the original check could be notified to request confirmation. You only need to go to the bank if the poster doesn’t respond. But Quicken and most banks already allow e-pay of some sort, so this is really for the person, or business, who receives checks. Exactly the kind of target e-criminals look for.

†Posted by Dan H

From what I can tell after a few minutes of googling, the software is Windows-only. Looks like I’ll still be driving to my local branch!

†Posted by Rob A

I too use USAA and I love it. I use the service periodically, but it is so convenient depositing the $$ in this manner, especially since my local primary financial institution isn’t near work.

†Posted by black magicks

The banks could certainly allow scan-processing of deposits under the regulated term of FREE transactions to its customers AND MAKING SURE THAT THE EFT RULES APPLY TO ALL CHECKS DEPOSITED IN THIS MANNER. Why FREE? If you completely eliminate tellers and force people to transact by computer, your savings are in the form of salaries and benefits. Those savings should be passed on to the customers.

†Posted by Laura B

QUOTE the system of routing and account numbers used for direct deposit is simply too cumbersome to use for payments.

Many European countries have either never used checks or have done away with the concept because of various reasons such as fraud and the lack of convenience. If you can fill out a check, you can easily ask someone for their account number and bank routing number in order to make a payment or deposit to them. That way, the transfers are expedited (so banks make less money while they hold on to your money and YOU make more) and checks cannot be stolen in the mail. It is also better for the environment (no check printing).

†Posted by Melissa

Checks? What are those?

I think I send out four checks a year, to the water company. They haven’t entered the 21st century, and won’t take credit cards or direct transfers.

Gas, electric, mortgage, phone…these are either paid through direct transfers or billed to our credit card (which we pay by direct transfer).

Checks (and cash) will soon go the way of floppy disks and analog cable.

†Posted by Jeff Suzuki

The fraud merchants must be wetting their chops ! Likely we will read about a large scam when this service becomes common.

†Posted by elbee

Number 7 beat me to it!

I too was going to question the statement that “the system of routing and account numbers used for direct deposit is simply too cumbersome to use for payments”.

How does “cumbersome” apply to the digital world? Too many ones? Too many zeros?

Surely the numeric keypad is less “cumbersome” than the scanner on an all-in-one printer.

The other day I was at an automated checkout lane at the local supermarket. It would not accept my (fairly pristine) $10 bill. Each time I put it in the slot, the scanner spit it back out. The attendant tried it. No luck. The manager tried a different $10 bill. No luck. Finally they listened to my suggestion and tried two $5 bills. Success!

So much for the ease-of-use of scanners.

†Posted by Al Cyone

The Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union does it one better: You don’t even have to scan checks up to $1,500 to deposit them at home. All you do, after signing up for their “UPost@Home” service (http://www.psecu.com/Account_Access/UPost@Home/), is log on and key in a check’s vitals — the check number, amount and make, if I am not mistaken. The system gives you a transaction ID, you put the check in a provided envelope and drop it in the mail. The check amount is credited to you and available for immediate withdrawal. Within a day or two, they scan the check and its image is available to you online. Maybe it’s the vaulted “credit union difference;” I don’t know. All I know is I love the convenience.

†Posted by Optimizer

An addendum: It bears mention that the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union employs a virtually branchless model. There’s only, I think, two physical offices where you can deposit checks. Other than the UPost@Home service, I believe your options are to mail the check in with a deposit slip (and wait for the money to be credited) or find a full-service ATM that accepts deposit (not terribly common).

†Posted by Optimizer

Hi, I live in France and this is not possible for particulars to scan check at home (for company it’s possible). The news I prefer from USA is using mobile to make remote check deposit.

http://insiden.blogspot.com/2008/01/using-mobile-phones-to-make-remote.html

†Posted by denis vacher

Having lived around the Ottawa area for over the last 20 years, I can say it is extremely rare we see a check these days. Electronic banking is easier, safer, and much faster. When I send funds to my son in Europe, it`s simply a transfer to his account here. I`m always amazed when I go back to the States to see how many paper checks are used down there. Time to get a more modern approach.

†Posted by Dennis

**Who goes to the bank anymore? Everything is paperless. I can’t even remeber the last time I purchased a stamp!**

I hardly ever need to do anything more than turn on my laptop, which is probably why I gained 15 pounds over the last 5 years…

†Posted by This Is 2008

Depositing with USAA has solved the old Student at College problem. I deposit the check to my son’s debit card. USAA refunds the ATM charges about once a month. It is fantastic. Ususally the funds are available immediately. If not in the am the following day.

It is great!!!

USAA is a fantastic company all around.

†Posted by Susan

Why are we still using checks at all? In Japan they are unheard of. There you can go to an ATM and transfer money from your bank account to anyone else’s bank account, regardless of the bank. All you need to know is that person’s bank and account number. Why don’t we have that here?

†Posted by Ben

I have been using USAA’s deposit@home for 2 years without any problems. It is great. One thing that is not mentioned is the $5000 limit on checks. Anything 5K or above still has to be mailed to USAA.

†Posted by James Marino

Hello,

I live in Mexico 500 miles from my CapitalOne bank.Mail service between Mexico and the USA is very unreliable, sometimes taking as long as 6 months and sometimes never actually reaching its destination.

A scan service for direct deposits such as this article proposes would be a God-send for the few checks I receive.

AdiĂłs.

†Posted by Melville L King

scanning in my checks would be most helpful, but I cannot aford to pay for the service. I am handicapped and cannot access a mailbox–and the local postmaster has refused to continue the service (which I was receiving) to the handicapped of delivering mail to my door. (They can make these decisions without challenge since the Post Office is a federal agency and exempt from the accesibility laws) At any rate–my bills and deoisits are often late and I have been overdrawn because I must wait as long as a week for someone to come and bring in the mail. I no longer can have any packages of Books By Mail from the Library either.

†Posted by m

Another happy USAA client…we moved all of our personal banking services to USAA because of Deposit@Home. Fraud needs to be addressed, but banking will have to keep pace with other technological/market advances to remain competitive.

†Posted by Shauna G

Am I in the Twilight Zone or is the USA backwards again compared to the rest of the world? Here in Europe we stopped using checks decades ago and just have our bank transfer the money from sender’s account to the destination account. We use something called an IBAN number as the sender and receiver. These transfers are free of charge within the euro zone. Why are you still trying to find a better way to mail a piece of paper? In the end, the transfer of money initiated by writing a check takes place electronically anyway. Join the rest of us in the 20th century. (By the way, the metric system is better too.)

†Posted by Thornton Hill

The US Banking System has never changed since the horse-and-buggy days of Wells Fargo. And now, they finally enter the electronic age and…allow us to scan the horse. How laughable is this! I can’t imagine they don’t know how it can be done (Europe is still on the same globe, no?). So, I wonder why they have resisted all these decades. It must be billions they are facing to lose because they can’t sit on our money anymore, before they have to part with it, while we’re waiting with empty pockets for the buggy to arrive.

†Posted by ArnoDienhart

I’ve been using this service with USAA for the past year and it’s great! In the past, I’d mail them (in pre-paid envelopes) deposits if I had checks, but this is easier and I get to keep the actual checks/scans as a record. After I confirm the deposit, I void the check and file it away (they recommend destroying it).

When they first rolled it out two years ago, it didn’t work with Macs, but they fixed that. I’ve never had a problem with it except for one time I tried to upload the scan and got a non-descriptive, numerical error code. The call to tech support was not reassuring. The *obviously* non-techie tech support person, when informed of the error code, started spouting gibberish at me: the scanner isn’t talking to the window (??), use a left-click on the image (???), you need to upgrade your version of Windows (???? Hello?! I use a Mac!), etc. You’d think a numerical error code would be indicative of a specific problem. Turned out to be user error (sigh): I’d scanned the front as back and vice versa and the software recognized a problem, but couldn’t tell me this in actual, real words.

Technology marches on …

†Posted by rivet

Its great to have do it from home, work etc, but what about the bank employees? How many workers will be fired becuase of the advancement in technology? “it might be reviewed by human”?, how erroneous, now we probably living in an IRobot world, where machines take over and we sit in front of a computer/tv and get fatter everyday. No jobs, no means for excersise and no human interactions.

†Posted by Dalton

Quaint. I pay and get paid in both India and France using a simple internet system.

†Posted by Bharat Kewalramani

All my checks are electronically deposited so this would offer no convenience to me and most of the bills I pay on-line are electronic transfers. I imagine this would help a small business who gets many paper checks but I doubt it would be useful for the ordinary wage earner but then again it has been a long time since I have received a paper check.

†Posted by Barb

Hello,

as progressive the US can be in other areas, this is adding to a very medieval system another one, about which all Europeans are smiling about …. instead of reforming the bank transfer systems to European standards.

I cannot remember when I used my last cheque…

Best regards from the Ostalb (Swabian backwoods in Germany)

Hans Molsner

†Posted by Hans Molsner

Here, as in many other areas, such as broadband, healthcare, the metric system, the USA is far behind the rest of the world. In Europe checks have never been used. Direct transfers from account to account are the norm and easy and usually free.

†Posted by Wilhelm Evertz

I think that “I” do not want, nor need to surender another sliver of my money to Bank Fees. I’ll keep my ATM Card, for now, certainly!

†Posted by Joseph P. Hubert

The real innovation is when all deposits are electronic. No more checks.

“Here’s my deposit code.” *click* “The money is in your account, thank you.”

†Posted by Dan Halpern

All of the European writers tell us how great their system is - “all” you have to do is get the routing and account number of the person to whom you want to write a check - and that the US is so stupid to have a banking system that still uses paper.

That is all well and good IF:

a) everyone has internet access to “write” the check, b) everyone has a checking account to which the money can be transferred, c) you can communicate with the recipient before writing the check to get his/her account number. d) all merchants are required to have terminals to accept debit cards.

To people who think these are insignificant objections to a paperless “check” system, let me remind them of the expression “Let them eat cake”.

There’s still a big “Check Cashing” business out there for people who do not have access to the banking system and not everyone can afford home computers and internet access.

That said, I would love to see direct transfer available in addition to the traditional paper check.

†Posted by Bruce H

I’ve used Deposit@Home with USAA, and it’s wonderful. I do not live in San Antonio and had deposited by mail on occasion — in the bank’s mail-in envelope — and the US Post Office took two weeks to deliver it 60 miles away. I don’t have that to worry about with scanning my deposits. For those who think someone may deposit a check in another account, you must write your bank account number in which the deposit is to be made below your endorsing signature on the back of the check, and then tear up the check. You couldn’t deposit it in any other bank or account. And I do this on a Canon scanner that I bought online from Wal-Mart for $50!

†Posted by Margie

“A negative side to the Check Clearing Act: if a bank does not return the physical check, and you need it for a lawsuit or criminal investigation, you’ll have problems. For example,if you have to prove you paid something many years ago (for instance to get a rental deposit back, or if you paid first month/last month), the photo-reduced copy you get on a bank statement does not always hold up as proof in court in a suit. With no original, you will be up the creek.

Also, my bank statements only show an image of the front of the checks, and information like the deposit signature isn’t shown. Proving fraud then becomes a problem. Also, the bank doesn’t have to retain the image after a certain number of years. This legislation seems passed solely to benefit the banking industry, and the side effects ignored. Thank you, Congress. -Walt D”

You should check with your bank. There are different options of how you want your checks back. Even with the law Check 21, you can get larger clearer print copies (front and back) of checks you’ve had written. Even if you do not have it enclosed with your statements the banks themselves keep a file of it image for a few years and the rest of the years on tape (max 7 years). An archaic method but it still works.

†Posted by Cindy L

I havent visited a bank in 10 years to deposit a check. I mail it in with self addressed pre-paidd envelopes provided by my bank.

They return my deposit slip copy and a new envelope.

The check hits my acct 2 days after mailing. Total round trip is 4 mailing days. Priceless!

†Posted by tc

I would rather go to the bank. The fraud risk is still a big concern to me.

†Posted by Manuel G.

Two questions: what happens when the internet goes down? what happens when somebody transposes a number and sends the payment to the wrong account?

And a comment: my large regional bank here in the USA now charges $2 for transfers in and $3 for transfers out, with a limit out of $500 daily; discouraging!

†Posted by Elizabeth

Just got off the phone with USAA. I’ve used them for car insurance, home insurance, credit card for 50 yrs. I use a Credit Union for banking, and bank by mail with them. My IRA is with USAA and I opened a Roth IRA with them when I reached the age that a mandated withdrawal was required. Evidently that was too complicated for USAA, without my authorization the mandated IRA withdrawal was electronically deposited into my Credit Union savings account. Electronic banking has gone too far when USAA can make deposits to another bank account of mine without my authorization–when will they start making unauthorized withdrawals?

†Posted by M.F.Donnelly

Anything that saves yet one more trip to the bank is something that I’m in favor of. Clearly, there seems to be a pervasive need to hang onto these paper checks, and despite the decline of paper check usage these things will still be with us for many years to come.

Jim http://www.paymentinfocenter.com/billpay/

†Posted by Jim

Will it work for cash?

†Posted by David

I suppose scanning could be a good interim step before we go completely paperless. Although I have to say that’s a very tech snob attitude. There are plenty of people out there still not hooked into the Matrix or who don’t trust it enough or know how to use it.

I have a check from a client that has been sitting in my wallet for a week now, waiting for a convenient time for me to go to the bank and deposit it. Scanning it would be very nice right now.

I normally have my clients pay me via PayPal whenever possible though. How nice it would be if my bank could talk to other banks the same way and just allow transfers without charging a wire transfer fee.

†Posted by Morgan

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