If you own an iPhone, you might complete banking transactions directly from it, such as transferring money or setting up automatic payments. You can even deposit checks simply by taking pictures of them through the banking app. Many banks and credit unions offer the ability to use your phone’s camera and a secure application to save a trip to the branch. If you’ve never done it before, here’s how the process works and what you need to do to deposit checks with your iPhone.
Can I Deposit Checks With My iPhone?
In the past, only select banks allowed customers to deposit checks from their iPhone, but mobile banking is now increasingly common. In fact, the Federal Reserve reported that about half of adults in the United States with bank accounts used a mobile phone to access their bank information. Owning an iPhone doesn’t mean you can deposit checks with it; your bank has to provide an application and offer the service. To deposit checks with your iPhone, get an application for your bank. Call your bank’s customer service line, or visit its website to find details about the application. If you’ve been using your bank’s application for a while, you may need to upgrade to a newer version to deposit checks.
How to Deposit a Check in Six Steps
Depositing a check with your iPhone is surprisingly easy. You can complete the process in six simple steps:
Is It Safe?
You may wonder whether it’s safe to deposit checks with your iPhone. Any reputable bank will be sure that communication is encrypted and that thieves will not be able to pull your account details out of the airwaves. Depositing a check is no riskier than viewing your account—you’ve already provided your login credentials. Making a check deposit is more risky for the person who wrote the check, because their account and routing numbers are being photographed and transmitted. However, the risk is negligible and perhaps not as significant as the risk of a paper check getting lost. That can happen whether it goes through the mail or you’re on your way to a branch.
