The Marketing Innovation Blog

As customers are becoming more tech-savvy, banking technology is being developed to make life for those customers more convenient. Currently, some can deposit checks in ATMs without filling out a deposit slip, and pretty soon customers will be able to deposit their checks from any and everywhere! As a matter of fact, I was amused when I went to deposit a check in the ATM machine at my bank and I did not have to fill out one of those awful, time consuming deposit slips. How convenient, right? 

If I thought that was amazing, you can only imagine what I think about the following. According to USAToday.com, in the near future, bank customers will be able to deposit checks by taking a picture of the front and back of the check with their cell phones. I usually do not have to visit my bank very often because I have direct deposit. But there are certain times like during Christmas or my birthday when depositing checks via cell phone would make my life that much more hassle free. As long as the picture of the check being sent is clear, and one does not immediately receive a bad image error message, funds will be transferred and deposited almost instantly. This type of banking service would be a dream come true! Especially for people like myself who are trying to balance their hectic schedules and who barely have time for themselves, never mind making a trip to the bank.

But, would sending this data from our cell phones to the bank compromise our financial privacy and security? Many are fearful of technology when it involves personal financial information because identity theft is such a huge problem. However, banks say that they have overcome those concerns and they add that all of the personal financial data that is sent from a phone will be encrypted as it travels to the bank.

With new technology emerging, we all have hesitations. At the same time, one must embrace technological change to reap the benefits of a more convenient lifestyle. There is always a chance of fraud when it comes to financial and personal data in the banking industry. With that being said, I would definitely choose to take advantage of this service because it would give me more time to do things that I enjoy doing—and going to the bank is not one of them!

Would you participate in this service, or would you feel safer and find it easier to just visit your local bank?

Jenaleigh Landers is an intern with Griffin York & Krause.  She is currently a full-time Business Major at Saint Anselm College.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.