Depositing Checks Using Phone-Banking Apps - Is It Safe?

It’s highly unlikely that paper checks are going to go obsolete anytime soon. Businesses continue to order next day checks in bulk every month. They use them to pay vendors, utility bills, as well as employees. Businesses also receive a lot of checks from their clients and customers. Up until a few years ago, businesses and individuals had to present the checks to a bank teller for them to get cleared. Thanks to the app-based check depositing feature, this is no longer necessary. All the major banks in America offers this service, and it has made receiving paper checks almost hassle-free.

A lot of people, especially the ones who are not used to mobile banking continue to remain skeptical about the safety of this feature. The dangers of depositing a check using an app are not unique.  Sending any information over the internet is susceptible to certain threats. However, when protected using the best encryption technologies, the risk of data breach is little to none.  Right from sending a mail to performing banking transactions, most sensitive data is protected using encryption technology. For most parts, this transmission of data is pretty secure.

Depositing Checks the Old-Fashioned Way (Is it Safe)

Consider the alternative, when you go out to deposit a personal or business check,  it can get misplaced or stolen. Crooks can not only learn the banking info but they can also get hold of the copy of the signature used to authorize the check payments. Does that sound safe? You also hand over the check to a human teller, who you trust would not leak the sensitive banking information. While the app-based check deposit technology cannot guarantee safety (nothing can), it does, however, do a better job at keeping sensitive information protected.

3 Safety Tips When Depositing Checks Using Banking Apps

Online banking apps may look like any other app on the app store, but they are fortified using the latest of security and encryption technology. Following are a few tips that should keep you safe when depositing checks using online banking apps.

Make Sure the App Doesn’t Store the Check Images: You really don’t want the app to store the images of your checks on your mobile device. It should ideally take a snap of the check and send it across without saving anything on the local phone drive.

Don’t Use an Open/Public Wi-Fi Connection: Refrain from using the banking app or doing any financial transaction when on an open or public Wi-Fi connection. In fact, you should not use a public Wi-Fi when doing any sensitive work over the internet.

Get the App from the Bank’s Website: Before you can deposit a bank check online, you need to download the application. Don’t get the app from a “friend” or download it from an unknown website. It also recommended not to download the banking app from Google or Apple stores. Mainly because there are fake apps out there that attempt to steal your information. The best way forward is to go to the bank website to get the app. The banking website would direct you to the correct Google Play or Apple Store page to download the app.