By now, you’ve likely heard about cheque scanning technology. Although it’s been on the market for about 10 years now, it’s only made its way to Canada in the past few years. But it’s sure made a splash in the time it’s been here.
Digital scanning technology is the future of cheques, there’s no doubt about it. It offers so many advantages in business, such as simplified back office tasks, reduced risk of errors or lost cheques, less wasted time, heightened productivity, and the convenience of remote depositing.
However, many business owners are still hesitant to implement cheque scanning technology into their companies, and you might be too. And it’s probably for one sole reason: security.
With so many digitally savvy criminals out there, you might believe that digital cheques will increase your risk of fraud and identity theft. You might be worried that your information might not be secure. So you might be wondering: is it safe? Here’s what you need to know about the security of cheque scanning.
How Cheque Scanning Technology Works
When it comes to cheque scanners, there are many security features built in. The machine scans paper cheques with ultraviolet technology to verify UV security features, then uses character recognition to record the amount deposited as well as all of the relevant data, such as account number, routing number, date, name, and signature. The digital cheque is then sent over to your financial institution for further processing.
The Bank’s Verification Process
Once you’ve finished remotely depositing your cheque to your financial institution, the process isn’t over. The bank then verifies the account numbers on the cheque against financial databases to ensure that it’s legit. It also verifies that the cheque is only being deposited once—internal red flags will be set off if the same cheque is being deposited more than once, say once remotely and once at an ATM.
Plus, digital cheques don’t have to be handled by as many people during this process, which reduces the risk of it getting lost or altered, heightening your security even more.
Encryption
Naturally, when you’re sending this type of sensitive financial and personal information to your bank through the Internet, you want to ensure that your data is secure. Luckily, this isn’t something that you need to worry about. The data is encrypted. So even if a tech-savvy criminal were to access your information from the cheque scanner while it’s on its way to your financial institution’s servers, he wouldn’t be able to decode it to make any sense of the information he has.
Move Past Your Fears
Any time you accept any type of payment—whether it by cash, debit, credit, or cheque—you do face a risk of being scammed. But a cheque scanner can actually reduce this risk when it comes to cheque payments. You’ll benefit from digital signatures and public key cryptography. These electronic cheque payments will also be checked against databases for known companies and persons who have provided fraudulent cheques in the past. All electronic cheques are verified and authenticated for your security.
Business owners and financial institutions that have started to use cheque scanning technology have not experienced an uptick in cheque fraud as a result of the new deposit method. The technology used has been thoroughly tested, making it safe to use. So put your fears aside and purchase a cheque scanner for your company so you can begin to benefit from its myriad advantages. Don’t be left behind as all of your competitors reap the rewards of greater efficiency, reduced costs, increased cash flow and streamlined cheque deposit processes.
The results are in: cheque scanning is safe.
