Although cheque scanning technology was invented in the 90s, it wasn’t implemented until about 10 years ago by the United States. In September 2013, the legislature to digitize cheques went through in Canada. France and New Zealand were also early adopters and the UK is close to legalizing digital cheques as well.
However, acceptance of the idea has taken longer than expected. But it seems that people are now ready for it. Cheque scanning has started to take off in recent years.
Cost Effective Solution for Financial Institutions
Financial institutions are realizing that cheque scanning can drastically reduce their cheque processing and transportation costs—by as much as 90 percent. And when they’re processing millions of cheques per year, this is a significant reduction of cost. Though not every bank has gotten on board yet since the technology is still relatively new, it’s clear that most— if not all banks— will implement cheque scanning soon enough in order to reduce operational costs in the future.
The Perks for Consumers
People have been craving for a more convenient way to deposit their cheques, especially business owners. When almost every other transaction can be performed via online banking, people have become accustomed to the ease and comfort of banking from home. They’re used to paying bills, opening accounts, applying for loans, and moving money around with just a few clicks of the mouse or swipes on a smart phone. For many, the one of the remaining reasons to make a trip to the local branch is to deposit a cheque, and they’d love to be able to add efficiency to that banking process as well, which is why remote cheque depositing is the way of the future.
Why It’s Vital for Banks to Offer Cheque Scanning Services
If banks don’t get on board with digitizing cheques, they risk missing tech-savvy customers who will eagerly switch banks in order to receive this convenient service. The financial institutions that don’t implement the technology soon jeopardize client retention as customers possibly jumping ship for their competitors.
The Way of the Future
Paper cheques will still be around for a while. After all, not everyone has access to a computer, cheque scanner, or mobile phone, while others don’t trust the security of using technology for banking, and others just prefer banking at the local branch.
But one thing’s for sure, digitizing cheques are the way of the future. They’ll eventually this practice will become the norm as paper cheques slowly are phased out. As more and more financial institutions get on board with digitizing cheques, businesses and individuals will get their payments quicker while banks will save considerably on operational costs. It’s a win-win situation. Though the technology is relatively new and not currently widespread, the financial world is ready to bring cheques into the modern age.
