Tennessee Bank Adds Mobile Deposit Capture Feature

SmartBank announced recently that it had added a new feature that would make depositing a check into an account easier. Mobile Deposit Capture (MDC) will allow customers to deposit a check by simply taking a picture of the check using an Android (News - Alert) or iOS app.

Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based Smart Bank was founded in 2007 and has nine branches in Tennessee and Florida. Its philosophy seeks to differentiate itself from banking giants that are often maligned for being so big that customer service and accountability have been ignored in favor of growing at all costs. SmartBank emphasizes integrity, offering great service and making sound financial decisions.

Using MDC is a simple process with a few basic steps. After selecting the check deposit option from the mobile app, users must endorse the check ‘for mobile deposit only’, then respond to a notice to continue. Both the front and back of the check must be photographed. The amount of the check being deposited is entered, and then the user selects which account the check is deposited in and provides an email address for the transaction receipt to be sent to. Once everything is confirmed one last time, the transaction is complete.

According to SmartBank, single MDC transactions are generally not accepted; transactions have a daily limit of $4,000 and a limit of $10,000 over any three-day period. Customers are also advised that funds are not immediately available with these deposits and that checks may be destroyed two weeks after making the deposit. There is no charge for using the service.

SmartBank is certainly not the first financial institution to accept digital images of checks for deposits; the technology has been available for several years. Even though it is a small bank promoting itself as being different from monoliths, it still faces many decisions that the big banks do: saving on labor costs and providing convenience to its customers. MDC won’t work for larger transactions that exceed policy limits, but should work for the other 99 percent of transactions that do. It’s another technological advance that reduces the need for traditional in-person banking at brick-and-mortar branches.