The future of banking: Deposit Chase checks via iPhone

JPMorgan Chase just pushed out an update to its iPhone app with a re-he-heally interesting new feature. In addition to using the app for looking up balances, sending bill payments or searching branch locations — which already makes this a must-have app for any Chase customer — you can now deposit checks using this app! Checking account customers would just have to snap pics of the front and back of the check.

As a Chase customer, I am both excited by this and — honestly — a little fearful. I’m not sure how the bank plans to deal with security or fraud issues with, say, fake checks or forgeries. (And if you’re ready to road test this feature, you may still want to hang on to the hard copies for your records.)

The app also offers a Person-to-Person QuickPay option now, too — which is sort of like PayPal, but without the middle man.

If financial institutions can maintain their security standards, I could really see this kind of functionality becoming the future of banking. Soon, hitting ATMs could become a thing of the past, and cash may be obsolete. I kind of can’t wait for that. Just think of it — If we never had to wait in a bank or ATM line again, wouldn’t that just be super?

To snag your Chase Mobile (SM) app via iTunes, click here. Sorry — it’s iPhone only. Yes, there’s an iPad app from Chase, but the tablet doesn’t have a camera, remember? Neither does the iPod Touch. But I do wonder if you could snap a pic of a check some other way and sync it to these devices, to get it to to work. If anyone tries this out, let us know how you do in the comments.