Soon it will be possible to use cell phones to make bank deposits

In the near future, it would be necessary to go to a bank or an ATM to deposit a check. The user only needs to take a couple of pictures of it with his cell phone.

The software to do that are already available for the Apple iPhone and other devices from USAA, a company that provides insurance and banking services, primarily for veterans. Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are among the financial groups plan to release similar software applications this year.

Although the technology, called remote deposit capture, promises to save time for consumers, has become an additional concern about fraud and possible interference with the privacy of financial data.
But banks and high-tech companies to help them claim to have dispelled those concerns. And with the new parameters of federal regulators, more banks could begin to put this technology in the hands of consumers.

"Our consumers are becoming more and more knowledge about the technology," said Marylou Dowd, vice president of mobile banking division of Citibank. "We try to support those people on the move.
The service will work like this: When someone takes a picture of a check, the computer receiving the image will detect the amount, check number and digits from the bottom, comparing these data with information that is on the user's account and the bank. A photograph of the back of the check will verify that it has been signed by the client.

A central banking institution shall then forward funds to the account holder's address. This will also prevent the same check deposited multiple times.

Remote deposit capture began as a way for large corporations and financial institutions large numbers of checks processed without having to send them from one extreme to another country.

The regulators were surprised when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 caused delays in financial transactions. Since air traffic was suspended for several days, checking packages that banks and other businesses needed to move could not be reviewed.
Thus, in 2003, Congress passed a law known as Check 21. Allows anyone who receives a check take a digital picture of it instead of having to physically delivered. The law has led many companies to install "scanners" that simultaneously digitize thousands of checks for deposit.