Remote deposit capture has hit the big time.
It used to be that banks would tout the use of smartphone cameras to deposit checks on earnings calls to signal that they were serious about innovation. Now that the remote deposit of checks via RDC has become table stakes for the mobile apps of large institutions, banks are finally releasing figures about the service.
Yesterday, both Bank of America and PNC Bank discussed mobile deposit of checks using RDC as a percentage of total deposits. Bank of America chief financial officer Bruce Thompson said that mobile deposits accounted for 10% of all deposit transactions at the bank, in the context of a larger discussion about the growing importance of mobile for retail customers of the bank.
Meanwhile, Rob Reilly, PNC’s CFO, agreed with an analyst that cited a 5% mobile share of deposits for the bank. This figure was apparently released to investors in February. PNC usually cites a figure for nonbranch deposits, which includes both ATM and mobile deposits, without breaking out mobile more specifically. The combined ATM-and-mobile figure for 2014 is 31%, so ATMs account for 26% of PNC’s total deposits.
Perhaps it should be no surprise banks are bringing this figure to light — perhaps we should be surprised at how the majority of deposits still happen at the branch.