Understanding Remote Deposit Capture

Making deposits when and where it is convenient for you

Coulee Bank is a community bank that focuses on building relationships. We pride ourselves in offering in-person customer service at multiple bank locations. However, with the rise of digital banking, we quickly upgraded our services to offer many forms of digital banking. One of those product offerings is a Remote Deposit Capture (RDC).

What is Remote Deposit Capture?

RDC allows consumers and businesses to make deposits directly from a smartphone or with a remote deposit scanner. If you are a consumer with personal savings and checking accounts, you can deposit a check on an app by photographing the front and back of the check. If you are a business owner, you can use your smartphone or a remote deposit scanner to scan the front and back of a check and make a deposit.

Annie Bertram, AVP, Treasury Management says, “We are proud to offer this tool to our customers. At Coulee Bank, we do our best to keep pace with the latest banking technologies and offer our business customers and personal banking customers those products and services.”

She says, one of the latest upgrades to Coulee Bank’s business app is batch mobile deposits. A traditional mobile deposit allows you to take a photo of each check and deposit them separately. A batch mobile deposit allows you to photograph multiple checks and create one deposit. Bertram provides this example, “If you have five checks each written out for $20, you will see this as one deposit for $100. The batch feature is only for businesses."

How Does RDC Work?

This feature is very user-friendly. Here are six steps to help you get your paper check deposited on a mobile device:

1.     Download the Coulee Bank mobile app. In this app, search for the “deposit” or “mobile deposit” feature.

2.     Endorse the back of the check and write “For mobile deposit only” under your signature.

3.     On the app, select the proper account you wish to deposit the check and include the dollar amount of the check.

4.     The app will prompt you to take a photo of the front and back of the check. Make sure to take the photo in a well-lit area with a contrasting background. If the check is light colored use a dark background. Many banking apps have smart technology to help you take quality photos.

5.     Review the check details to ensure you have the correct amount in the app and the correct account selected.

6.     Click deposit.

If you are a business customer, you can use your mobile device or a remote deposit scanner. The scanner acts like a camera. You can scan in checks and deposit each one separately or make a batch deposit. Keep in mind, if you make a batch deposit, you need to take a photo of each check.

Is RDC Secure?

RDC is secure, but it’s important to remember to dispose of the paper checks responsibly. Checks have a lot of personal information on them including name, address, phone number, checking account number, and routing number.

You won’t see funds in your account until the following business day, but all deposits made prior to 6 pm will have an effective date that matches the date of the deposit. It’s good practice to keep the paper check for several days to ensure the deposit has cleared. Store these checks in a secure location. It’s recommended to wait until your next bank statement or 30 days before you shred the check. Bertram emphasizes shredding the check once a statement cycle has passed. "You don’t want the check to get in the hands of the wrong person. Remember, checks have a lot of personal information on them.”

Are There Caps on Deposits?

“To protect our customers, we establish a daily remote deposit limit. Putting a cap on remote deposits helps to alleviate fraud. We establish a unique limit for each business based on their needs. These are not arbitrary limits, and limits can be adjusted,” she says.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of RDC?

“One of the biggest advantages is your checks can be deposited at no cost. There are a few other perks to this feature, you don’t have to go into a branch,” says Bertram. “If there’s inclement weather, you don’t have to hustle to a brick-and-mortar location to deposit your checks. Geography doesn’t define us as banks anymore. You can choose who you bank with.”

She goes on to say that the tool benefits businesses because they can set up scanners at any location and have one of their bookkeepers, personnel in accounts receivable, or other employees make deposits for business owners.

RDC is one of the many ways Coulee Bank strives to stay on par with technology. For business owners, you can find more information about recent upgrades to our Treasury Management department in the following articles.

For more information about additional tools from our Treasury Management department, read the article What is ACH and Why Does Your Business Need It? You may also be interested in Positive Pay. You can read about Positive Pay.

Coulee Bank is a community bank that focuses on building relationships. We pride ourselves in offering in-person customer service at multiple bank locations. However, with the rise of digital banking, we quickly upgraded our services to offer many forms of digital banking. One of those product offerings is a Remote Deposit Capture (RDC).