Mitek Systems Inc., a provider of remote-deposit check capture, has ridden the wave of mobile banking to an eight-fold increase in its stock price and a relisting of its shares this week.
The relisting, to the Nasdaq Capital Market from over the counter, will bring the company more attention on Wall Street and will open up the possibility of investment by institutional investors that have a policy of avoiding over-the-counter stocks, Bud Leedom, Mitek investor-relations director, tells PaymentsSource.
The San Diego-based vendor’s stock price rose from about 70 cents per share in July of last year to a closing price of $7.99 on July 11 this year, says Leedom. Shares will continue to trade over the counter until the Nasdaq listing begins Thursday, he says.
The surge in value came as the company secured a patent on the use of a cell-phone camera to transmit an image of a check along with four other related patents and agreements with major financial institutions to begin offering remote deposit check capture, Leedom says.
The agreements to use the service, including deals with six of the nation’s 10 largest banks, have come mainly through “channel partners” that incorporate Mitek technology into their mobile-banking software, Leedom says. Many of the partners rebrand the product, he notes.
The “channel network” of companies using the technology are doing business with 90% of the nation’s banks and credit unions, according to Leedom.
So far, 40 institutions have signed agreements with Mitek’s partners to use the technology. Of those, 18 have “commercialized” it by instituting security procedures and working out operational details, Leedom says. Getting the technology ready to present to consumers takes banks from three to six months, he adds.
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and others already have launched remote-deposit check capture, he notes.
The process, which Mitek calls “mobile capture,” should begin appearing in local banks within the next 18 months, Leedom predicts.
Next year, Mitek expects to see the first commercial use of its technology for remote bill payment, where a user scans the bill and hits the “submit” button to turn the payment over to a third-party company to complete the transaction.
Mitek, which began as a defense contractor in 1986, became involved with check imaging a decade ago and began concentrating on remote-deposit check capture in 2005, when James DeBello became president and CEO.
Nasdaq delisted the company’s stock “several years ago” when the price remained for too long below the required level of $1 per share, Leedom says.
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