JPMorgan Chase & Co. is offering a mobile remote capture application that customers can use to electronically deposit checks with their phones.
The feature was included in a July 2 update of its app for Apple Inc. iPhones, making the bank likely the first major financial company to offer mobile remote capture capabilities.
USAA Federal Savings Bank introduced a similar service last year. The San Antonio financial company has only one branch, and primarily serves members of the military and their families. Mobile services have proven to be very popular with is customers, who are deployed all over the world.
Bank of America Corp. last year tested mobile remote capture technology. A B of A representative confirmed Tuesday that the Charlotte bank continues to evaluate new products and services, such as mobile remote capture, but would not discuss the progress of its program.
Analysts have said that having a top 10 bank offer such advanced features would help propel mobile banking from a niche service to a mainstream product.
ComScore Inc., a digital marketing firm, estimates that about 35% of all U.S. consumers who use their mobile phones for financial services are B of A customers; JPMorgan Chase followed with a 12% share.
Nicole Sturgill, research director for delivery channels at TowerGroup, said that other banks might be willing to follow JPMorgan Chase's example. "There are a lot of banks talking about remote-deposit capture, but it's something a bank can't go into lightly," she said. "It's good that Chase made this leap. I expect that we will hear from more banks [soon]."
Chase's Quick Deposit offering is similar to the USAA Deposit@Mobile service. Users access the service through Chase's mobile banking application. They capture images of the front and back of a check with the cameras on their phones, and the application transmits the images to the bank, which verifies the check's validity and deposits the funds into the individual's account.
The service is limited to $1,000 per day and $3,000 per month.
Unlike USAA, Chase has a large ATM network that includes about 5,000 machines.
Chase expects a large number of mobile banking customers will use the service. Some customers already are praising the feature through reviews left at Apple's App Store.
"This is one more way we can provide convenience for our customers," said JPMorgan Chase spokesman Tom Kelly.
He would not say how many people have downloaded the iPhone app, nor when the company might offer a mobile banking app for phones that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
