Deposit checks to your bank via an iPhone photo

Back when I was an officer in the US Coast Guard I signed up for banking with USAA Federal Savings Bank and it was probably the best financial decision I ever made. USAA is a bank designed for military members and has a ton of awesome services for those on the go. I have only seen one physical branch in my entire life and all my banking is done remotely. USAA was one of the first banks to launch an iPhone application and according to the New York Times an updated version will be launched this week that lets you take a photo of a check with the iPhone and have it deposited to your account.

This really is not that big of a surprise for those of us USAA members who deposit checks since we have been able to scan checks in and have them deposited automatically for a couple of years. I never mail in checks and after scanning them I just note on them they were deposited via the Deposit @Home service and then file them away. This updated iPhone application should be a faster and simpler solution than having to scan in the check's front and back though and I look forward to trying it out.

The iPhone and iPhone 3G do not take very good close up photos so I wonder if an iPhone 3GS is required to use this service. You could also use a Clarifi case from Griffin Technology that I have used before with Evernote to take better close up photos.

I plan to contact USAA to find out if I can take a photo of my check with my other mobile phones and have it uploaded through their secure mobile site as well. If not, I will use my iPhone via WiFi to take care of this at home.

Thanks to Mobile Content Today for the heads-up on the news.