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>> Sumi das: Ever since direct deposit came on the scene checks aren't as common any more yet they're still circulating and when you do finally get around to cashing that check that's been tucked away in your wallet for weeks, getting to the bank can be a chore. But the future of depositing checks is here and it's as simple as taking a photo with your phone.
Music Depositing a check doesn't have to entail an all out ATM hunt at least not for some. Texas based USAA Bank has developed deposit@mobile, a practical Iphone application allowing its customers to deposit checks anywhere, any time, in a matter of minutes. At the office when you can't get away, on the weekend when banks are closed, on your lunch break or while you're waiting for the bus.
>> You just put a check down on the table and take a picture of the front and take a picture of back, the app will tell you if you got a good picture or not and you hit submit and it will give you a confirmation number and you'll see those funds in your bank account usually immediately.
>> Sumi Das: That's it no waiting in long lines, dealing with out of order ATM's, fussing with deposit envelopes or hunting for a pen so you can endorse the check.
>> It's called remote deposit capture and what we've built internally at USAA is all the algorithms around what I just described was the stillness of the phone, the angle of the phone, the lighting and then processing all of that as an image on the back end just like you had the physical check but now you're processing an image of that check, and then obviously a code that I had to take place on the Iphone itself.
>> Sumi Das: So what do you do with the check afterwards...no you don't have to mail it in, USAA recommends destroying it, so it's probably best just to shred it.
Music USAA caters to military personal who are often stationed around the world, since the bank only has one branch in San Antonio most customers previously had to mail in their checks but this new technology allows banking from wherever they're located. Other banks are interested in developing their own versions of deposit@mobile so that they can also offer the ability to bank no matter where you are. Of course in this era of rampant identity theft USAA had to ensure security even when customers are using open wifi networks.
>> You still have to log into our mobile services so you're giving us your credentials so that we know who you are and who's behind that transaction and then based on your relationship with USAA we determine whether 1, you have access to the service and then 2, if you're going to have immediate access to your funds. If that really was a true identity theft we have procedures and precautions around that that we would make sure that we would make that customer whole and we would rectify that situation and go after whoever the fraudster was.
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>> Sumi Das: Deposit@mobile is currently only available for the Iphone but Blackberry and Android versions are in the works. The future of check deposits, turning your cell phone into your very own mobile bank. For ZDnet, I'm Sumi Das
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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
