App lets users deposit cheques by phone

ING Direct is testing out a new app that allows Canadian users to deposit cheques by phone.

Consumers may soon be able to deposit cheques through their Smartphone.

Although it’s not legally feasible in Canada yet, ING Direct is testing a new program for 500 iPhone users that brings customers awfully close.

Cheque-in is a remote cheque deposit feature that will act as an add-on to the bank’s existing iPhone application.

Users take a picture of the front and back of their cheques and have the money deposited directly into their account.

Because of Canadian law, cheques still have to be mailed in within 14 days. At the very least, it's a safe way to deposit a cheque if you can't make it to an ATM.

"The Cheque-In process is a safe, reliable way for iPhone users to deposit their cheques quickly, and without the hassle of going to a bank branch or ATM,” said Peter Aceto, CEO of ING DIRECT Canada, in a press release.

Similar programs are already underway at US banks.

In a recent survey commissioned by ING, just over half of Canadians (55 per cent) deposit at least one cheque per month to their bank account, either by depositing it in an ABM (71 per cent), bringing it to a branch (41 per cent) or mailing it to their bank (one per cent).

Over a third of Canadians (38 per cent) said they were open to doing more traditional banking functions using their Smartphone.  This number jumps to 57 per cent when looking at people between 18 and 34-years-old.