Banks with Deposit@Home check scanning services?

September 29, 2009 12:02 AM

NOW are there any banks with Deposit@Home check scanning? (That aren't USAA)

This has been asked before, but it's 2 years later and one figures that there should be some progress on this front.

For years, USAA has offered (to its military clients only) the ability to scan the front and back of a check, send it to them electronically, and poof, your check is deposited. I'm a private, non-business, non-military USAA customer, and I don't get access to this. It's been 2 years since this was asked on MeFi; any updates?

Googling has so far informed me that some company called Checkfree has made a software package to sell to banks for this purpose in Feb, 2008, but I can't seem to find any banks promoting it. If this is available somewhere, where? If not, why on earth not?

posted by sdis to work & money (13 comments total)

You might try searching for the term "remote deposit".
posted by Houstonian at 12:12 AM on September 29

From the comments of a Consumerist thread:

"I just spoke to a USAA customer service rep and she said that the Deposit@home is available to anyone who has two of the following accounts:

Checking or Savings Account
Personal Loan
Mortgage
Credit Card

So, if you call them and get a Checking account, and then get approved for one of their credit cards, you will have Deposit@home available to you."

Perhaps the Customer Service Rep was completely wrong about this and the "anyone" still includes the military qualifier, or perhaps it's a new policy that hasn't reached all the Customer Service Reps yet. I thought I should mention it on the outside chance you can still get it to work at USAA.
posted by sharkfu at 12:19 AM on September 29

I bank with USAA (and am also non-business, non-military) and have been using Deposit@Home for several years now. (And, I agree with you; I think it's a fantastic service that all banks should offer.) I can't imagine why or how I would be able to use this and you would not. I'm assuming you've called them up to ask about access to this service?
posted by emilyanemone at 12:29 AM on September 29

I can confirm sharkfu's two-account supposition. There is no requirement to be a member of the military.
(that'll teach me to preview!)
posted by emilyanemone at 12:33 AM on September 29

I believe my bank (a small credit union associated with the college I attended) has a version of this. They call it "DeposZip." I don't know what other banks have it, but my credit union is part of this network: http://www.co-opfs.org/
posted by needs more cowbell at 12:33 AM on September 29

See here: "USAA's investment products, most bank deposit products, life insurance, and shopping and discounts are available to other individuals."

Although you may not qualify for USAA's auto and home insurance, you can still get a bank account.
posted by Robert Angelo at 5:40 AM on September 29

Is this where I get to do my USAA cheerleading? 'Cause it's been a while, and I haven't had a chance to say how awesome it is to deposit checks using my cell phone. You don't even have to scan the checks any more. It's definitely worth giving USAA a call to see if you qualify.

USAA! USAA! USAA! USAA!
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:22 AM on September 29

I can't add much to this discussion except to say that depositing via cell phone is great. All banks do when they get checks in the mail is scan them anyway so I don't see why they wouldn't offer this service.
posted by alexherder at 1:22 PM on September 29

"Thank you for your interest in USAA Deposit@HomeSM. To use this service, you must qualify under one of the following criteria:
-Be eligible for USAA auto or home insurance, and have an active USAA credit product.
-Have an active USAA auto or home insurance policy, and an active USAA credit product or be pre-approved for one.
We are sorry, but based on the information above, you are currently not eligible for USAA Deposit@Home.
Thank you,
Garrett Killian
USAA"
posted by sdis at 2:00 PM on September 29

Are you people who have Deposit@Home civilians? Do you have insurance somehow through them?
posted by sdis at 2:03 PM on September 29

Short answer? Probably not.

Longer answer? Every bank is waiting for another bank to "go first". There's tons of remote deposit capture in the commercial and small business space. Lots of RDC vendors are offering a "skinny-ed down" version of their web app for micro businesses and consumers. No bank is ready to be "first in" because of the perceived fraud risk. USAA has their remote deposit base sewn up a couple ways - they REALLY know their insurance customers, as those are the customers with some type of military background. I believe that USAA RDC customers also must qualify for a supporting consumer line of credit - the amount of the line of credit is their "deposit limit". This means you have a personal line of credit that will cover USAA for any loss they might suffer if you get up to shennanigans with your deposits. This is a fairly logical way for other banks to proceed, but they're all in "wait and see" mode. Your best bets would be small credit unions or "online only" banks, but even "online only" banks are asking you to mail check deposits in and processing them with lockbox-type functionality.
posted by ersatzkat at 5:22 PM on September 29

sdisPoster: "Are you people who have Deposit@Home civilians? Do you have insurance somehow through them?"

Yes and yes. My parents put me on their car insurance decades ago, and that was enough to eventually make me a full-fledged member. (Not helpful, I know; sorry.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:25 PM on September 29

Everbank - Online Check Deposit

WV United FCU iDeposit app. (Netbanker article)

Penfed - Deposit Anywhere Home Deposit Service

Digital FCU - PC Deposit

Addison Avenue FCU - e-deposit

Please note some of these don't have iphone apps, only home scanning apps. And some actually require you to mail in the check after scanning, which seems counter-intuitive to what customers are looking for...
posted by sharkfu at 6:00 PM on October 2