Consumers increasingly are becoming familiar with remote-deposit capture technology but generally are unable to use it because few financial institutions offer the at-home service, new survey data suggest.
In its research, Synergistics Research Corp. in July and August surveyed 1,000 consumers online inquiring about remote-deposit capture using personal computers and mobile phones. The company declined to release the full report.
In a report summary, Synergistics noted that 40% of PC users were familiar with remote-deposit capture, while 33% of mobile users were.
In both cases, however, few were using the service. Just 3% of respondents were using PC-based remote-deposit capture using scanners, while 2% were doing so using the cameras on their mobile phones.
“There is a huge chasm between the product’s awareness and actual use,” says Bill McCracken, Synergistics chief executive. “That can be seen as great potential for the product to grow.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. remains the only major financial institution to offer mobile remote-deposit capture (
USAA Federal Savings Bank in 2009 introduced the service as part of its mobile-banking application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android-powered phones. USAA also offers a PC-based version.
In October, PayPal Inc. added a mobile remote-deposit capture feature to its iPhone application (
Financial institutions should embrace remote-deposit capture now as a way to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, McCracken contends.
The technology also might help banks gain new customers. Some 60% of respondents who found value in remote-deposit capture said they would switch to a bank that offers the service.
The survey data also suggest some downsides to the technology’s rise. Some 50% of respondents would use bank branches less for deposits, while some 30% would use ATMs less.
Decreased branch traffic is particularly troublesome for banks because they use branch visits to cross-sell other products and services, McCracken suggests.
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