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Coming Soon, Smartphone-Based Banking

Posted by timothy on from the honing-in-on-float dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Banks will be offering a new service at the end of the year that will let customers take a photo of a paper check and have it be deposited in their bank accounts, making the smartphone one step closer to an ATM."

10 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. DUPE by MBCook · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a dupe from like 2 days ago, which was a dupe from like 6 months ago. USAA has been allowing this for months and months with the iPhone.

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    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    1. Re:DUPE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's not like it was an article that slipped under the radar, either... it has close to 500 comments. Easily one of the worst slashdot dupes I can recall :)

      Slashdot: proof that you can be a financially successful "editor" without actually performing any proofreading, copy editing, or checking for duplicate stories.

  2. Security... anyone heard of it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    All those nifty security features are completely and totally worthless now?

    1. Re:Security... anyone heard of it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Not when they sit on the money for 2 weeks waiting to make sure its 'Ok' to release it to you.

      Or only releasing it to you when the history of your account shows its unlikely they'll be unable to take the money back out if the check is fake.

      There are ways to mitigate the problem, those ways are already in place and have been for years because all those security features are already worthless since very few people bother to actually VERIFY them.

      Realistically though, writing fake checks and getting them cashed is a cake walk. You don't take the check to a bank, you take it to somewhere that it can be cashed by a guy who makes $6/hour and only has to make sure that it has a drivers license (I've been there).

      So now, once they've given you an account and clearly identified you, you can try to slip a fake check into your account with a photo. I fail to see how this is going to make it any different than it currently is. The person depositing the fake check is still going to be responsible for it, not really changing anything. Now instead of going to an atm and depositing a fake, you take a photo of it and push it to a web page. Same thing, different location, nothing of value lost. They aren't going to 'catch' you at home any more than they were going to 'catch' you at the ATM machine at 3am

  3. deja vu by bugs2squash · · Score: 2, Insightful

    all over again

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    Nullius in verba
  4. Ditch checks! by mseidl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've lived both in Europe and the USA, and I have to say, ditch the checks. Seriously. It's a joke and a pain in the ass.

  5. You're taking the piss. by Colin+Smith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No? Really. Taking a photo of a cheque?

    Writing out a cheque, then taking a photo of it? No. You're pulling my leg. And this is an advance?

    Why not just transfer the money using the phone?

    We can do it here in Europe. They can do it in India and Africa for goodness sake;

    http://europe.nokia.com/ovi-services-and-apps/nokia-money

     

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  6. Get off your arses and go to the damned bank by LukeWebber · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seriously, there are just so many more fraud opportunities dues to sheer bloody laziness on the part of the banks and their customers. Identity theft? Couldn't happen so readily if the banks would only make you come in there with your driver's license or passport before they go issuing credit cards. The same goes for government institutions.
    This idea sounds like it'd make it easy to copy a cheque, Photoshop it and bank it. You wouldn't even need to steal it. Just snap a quick shot with your iPhone and then slip it back. Just make sure you get it in before the owner and you're done.

  7. MAKE BIG BUCKS NOW! by dltaylor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    With automatic electronic transfers between banks, which do not verify the validity of the original check, the person who's going to be screwed by this is the one whose account number is on the fake check. Right now washing out a check, putting in new amounts, and presenting it for cash is a little bit more time-consuming (plus the check is gone) than just photoshopping a check image and scanning it on a phone, or several. The only small deterrent is that the checks are deposited, not paid out in cash immediately. Simple enough to hit up a few pensioners while there's still a bit in their account (or businesses that don't reconcile accounts frequently), wait for the deposits to clear, and clean out the temporary deposit account.

  8. Re:People still use cheques? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I only rarely go to the actual bank. Everything else I can do online. Bank statements are send via mail if I dont pick them up. It never ceases to amaze me that people consider cheques in any way advanced...