Around a quarter of Americans want to be able to bypass branches and ATMs and use their mobile phones to deposit cheques, according to a report from Javelin Strategy & Research.
Among people who already use m-banking services, the percentage wanting mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) for cheques rises to 50%, says the report, that draws on surveys of more than 13,000 people.
Despite this clear appetite, only three of the top 10 largest US financial institutions - JPMorgan Chase, PNC, and US Bank - currently offer this service. Others are playing catch up, with half planning to roll out the technology in the next 12 months, although fraud concerns are still holding some back.
The potential of the technology was recently highlighted by Chase's claims that its QuickDeposit feature on its Android, iPhone and iPad 2 apps has been used to deposit over $1 billion in 10 months.
PayPal says its iPhone app has been used to deposit around a million dollars a month since the feature was added in October, prompting its introduction for Android earlier this month.
Mark Schwanhausser, Javelin, says: "Mobile RDC is the latest gold rush opportunity for first-mover FIs to grab market share. FIs can use mobile RDC to lure consumers away from competitors."
Mary Monahan, Javelin, adds: "Mobile RDC offers revenue and cost-cutting opportunities. FIs are able to lower cheque processing costs by directing consumers away from bank branches and ATMs. FIs can position mobile RDC as a premium service that provides value to customers and charge customers fees for making mobile deposits. It's a win all around for consumers and FIs."