When you deposit a check in person, they run the check through a scanner. When you get your bank statement, you will typically see images of all of the checks you deposited that month. It’s all done digitally. It’s just that until this point, the banks weren’t willing to give us our own scanners

The only area where I can see it being very different is the endorsement recognition. In a bank, someone can read your endorsement. But with Deposit@Mobile, something does have to recognize that you have endorsed the check. If you have not endorsed the check, it throws and error. While I don’t think it knows *what* you are writing, it probably looks for a certain amount of contrast between that area and the rest of the check. Of course, I’m no genius, but this would make sense to me.

Lastly, though there is a high probably of fraud with this type of technology, USAA has a cult-like following and most people love working with them. Given their customer base, I would imagine they are at a lower risk for fraud that the banks you see on every corner. Everyone who uses this feature is required to have a USAA credit card. If the check doesn’t go through, the card gets charge for the amount of the check plus a fee. I imagine if this happens too many time they revoke your privileges to use the service. But again, this is all just speculation.

Very interesting, nonetheless!