Mobile Remote Deposit: Lessons Learned from Shopping for Potatoes

Today, millions of consumers will make shopping decisions about cereal, chicken, tomatoes, and potatoes. And for many, those decisions will be based on one key factor: convenience.

Consumers increasingly prioritize convenience when it comes to purchases and expect retailers to continue to offer innovative ways to save them time and effort, according to a recent study by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Although the study was conducted by retailers, it has implications for consumers of financial services as well.

“Time is a precious commodity for today’s consumers,” said Mark Mathews, NRF Vice President for Research Development and Industry Analysis. “Shoppers are busier commuting to work, dealing with family obligations or catching up on schoolwork, among other things. Naturally, convenience factors are playing a larger role in their shopping experience.”

According to the report, 83 percent of consumers say convenience while shopping is more important to them now compared to five years ago.

Retailers have anticipated consumers’ needs by offering a variety of innovations, such as online ordering, in-store pickup and two-day shipping. According the NRF study, these options can contribute to brand loyalty, as 93 percent say they are more likely to choose to shop at a specific retailer based on convenience.

Certainly, the stay-at-home-era – prompted by COVID-19 concerns – made convenience even more important. But while those concerns are slowly abating, convenience is here to stay.

So, does this growing desire for convenience extend to financial services? You bet.

Americans’ quest for convenience increasingly embraces mobile banking, but especially the ability to snap a picture of a check and deposit it with a mobile device, according to a recent report produced by Cornerstone Advisors.

The report points out that more than half of the consumers surveyed used mobile deposit at some point in the year before they were queried. In addition, 52 percent of the sample said that mobile deposit is one of the most important mobile banking services.

With mobile capture, credit unions can allow members to deposit checks from virtually anywhere, including the comfort of their own home. It only requires a mobile banking app and smartphone camera to capture images of a paper check, then electronically and securely submitting it for deposit into their account. This saves time and avoids the potential hassle of traveling to a branch and waiting in a teller line. Voila…member convenience maximized!

The convenience of being able to deposit checks 24/7 is one of the top benefits of mobile capture, but do members really deposit that many checks after business hours? Yes.

Catalyst Corporate provides Mobile Capture services to credit unions of all sizes through its innovative suite of remote deposit capture solutions, known as TranzCapture. Members at those credit unions use Mobile Capture to deposit some 200,000 checks per month. And while most are deposited 9-to-5, a significant percentage is submitted after hours. In fact, Catalyst research shows that each month tens of thousands of checks are deposited after hours. And even on Sundays, the numbers reach into the thousands.

Mobile capture’s convenience does not end with members depositing checks whenever they want. Mobile capture’s convenience also benefits credit unions.

When your credit union uses Mobile Capture from Catalyst Corporate, scanned checks are received in real-time, so they enter the collection stream sooner. All deposit item images are accessible in a centralized database, which allows for convenient research, reporting, and balancing within a single sign-on portal, TranZact. And, system-wide duplicate item detection is provided across all TranzCapture deposit channels.

Catalyst Corporate’s Mobile Capture solution offers credit unions additional conveniences, such as:

• Rules-based on criteria set by the credit union so that deposited items can be reviewed before releasing for posting
• Activity reflected on the Deposit Detail Report in TranZact to facilitate balancing
• and, of course, MICR correction

To make the implementation process more convenient, Catalyst Corporate’s Item Processing Project Team works with your credit union’s mobile banking vendor to put the service into place. Mobile Capture integrates with 15 different mobile banking providers (plus two more currently in development!) And Catalyst’s Mobile Capture API enables any digital banking vendor to integrate TranzCapture Mobile Capture.

Once implemented, the mobile capture functionality is launched from within your credit union’s mobile banking system. The look, layout and messaging related to the Mobile Capture service can be based on your credit union’s brand. And to help promote member adoption, no-cost marketing materials are available from Catalyst Corporate.

Mobile capture. Convenience for your members. Convenience for your credit union. It is a win-win. And that’s no small potatoes!

For more information on Mobile Capture from Catalyst Corporate, contact us today: contactus@catalystcorp.org.

As Catalyst Corporate’s Vice President of Sales, Karen Coble directs the sales and training processes for correspondent, payment and technology services. With more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, she takes pride in helping credit unions transition to services that add value to their operations.