Mobile Deposit Capture The Game Changer in Online Banking

Mobile deposit capture has become increasingly popular in the past few years and in my opinion will continue to grow in a rapid manner This convenient feature, according to the Federal Reserve is”the most important development the (U.S.) banking industry has seen in years” (“Remote Deposit Capture Overview”). The mobile deposit capture “..got its start in 2003 with the passage of the Check 21 Act, which gave scanned images of checks the same legal standing as the original paper documents.

The primary reason for the Check 21 Act was to speed up the check clearing process between banks, by allowing them to exchange check images rather than the original physical checks – but another effect was to allow the existence of remote deposit” (The History of Remote Deposit Capture).

This creation of the remote deposit was a game changer for everyone, from the big businesses to the little guy working two jobs that simply doesn’t have time to go to the bank and wait in line.

According to Digitalcheck.com, there have been three waves of remote depositing. The first wave, beginning in 2003,was geared mainly towards large companies that handled a high number of checks. This was because the scanners that were available at the time were very expensive and it made little sense for smaller companies to make such an investment if they were to not use the service extensively.

Nearing the end of the first wave, smaller companies were able to join in on the mobile deposit capture craze as a wider variety of scanners became available at more reasonable prices.

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Next, in the second wave, banks began to offer scanners to small businesses for yearly contracts. And finally, skipping to the end of the third wave, banks began offering apps that allow the customer to scan checks with their smartphone and deposit those checks directly into their account without stepping foot into a bank or paying any fees (The History of Remote Deposit Capture). According to remotedepositcapture.com, the process is fairly simple. A company or person simply captures an image of the check they desire to deposit and “once the check images are captured, an ACH file (for eligible items) and/or an image-based deposit is prepared. The RDC system can then transmit (usually via FTP over the internet as a 128-bit encrypted file) the deposit” to their bank(“Remote Deposit Capture Overview”). (In case you did not know like me, an ACH file is *a file with the extension .ach, which is most often associated with Medlin Accounting. It is commonly used by banks and may also be referred to as the “NACH” or “NACHA” format” (Page, Kara. “What Is an ACH File?”).

Finally, the bank receives the sent file and posts the amount to the bank member’s account. 1 firmly do believe this feature should be offered by all banks. Not everyone has the time to make trips to the bank to deposit a check and banks are, or should be atleast, in the business of making a pleasurable experience for its customers. Personally, I take advantage of this benefit offered to me through my Discover bank account and it has been extremely convenient. However, I would not be willing to pay for the service as I understand banks are in the market for my business so naturally they should offer incentives to keep my business. If one bank did not offer this service, and it meant that much to me, I would simply transfer my membership to another financial institution.

Works Cited

1. Page, Kara. “What Is an ACH File?” EHow. Demand Media, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 June 2015.
2. “Remote Deposit Capture Overview.” RemoteDepositCapture. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June