Why do people go to a bank? To get cash, apply for a loan, or deposit checks? Well if you work for a decent sized company you likely get direct deposit. If you need a loan you can apply online. But what if you run a small business? I happen to run one myself and I don’t have the luxury of direct deposit. I get checks from most of my clients so I have to drive to the bank at their set hours to put my money in there. I would pay extra not to have to do so. I don’t like making extra trips or stopping my route to go by the bank to make deposits. I’d love to just get the information off my checks then send that info to the bank. After all they don’t send me actual paper “cleared checks” anymore. They just post the image online for me which is fine by me. I had seen some news coverage of a way to just scan checks into your account and since then it seems to be getting more popular. I live in a small town so my banks don’t offer this service yet but that doesn’t matter as I don’t need to go to them if I can get the service elsewhere. The whole point is to do all my banking online. I’d rather work with local businesses but if that is not possible I will go elsewhere. One company offering the service is here.

I understand the possibility for fraud but there are simple steps that would prevent this most of the time. First off the banks could limit the service to customers that have been with the company for at least a year. Secondly they could delay “cleared” status. This would give them time to make sure there is a checking account somewhere else that will cover the check they just deposited. I cannot wait to get this started. Anything that makes my life run smoother I like.