Tap. Snap. Deposit. Remote deposit capture for credit unions

A whitepaper discussing remote deposit capture (RDC) has been published by the Southeast Regional Credit Union Schools (SRCUS). The paper was authored by a team of third-year students in the SE CUNA Management School program comprised of Barbara Burkett, Georgia’s Own Credit Union (Atlanta, GA); Dan Elston, BayPort Credit Union (Newport News, VA); Shelly Day, Health Center Credit Union (Evans, GA); and Sean Leavell, Georgia’s Own Credit Union (Atlanta, GA). Completion of the written project and an oral presentation of the research report is a prerequisite for graduation from the program. This team of students received recognition at the 2016 SE CUNA Management School graduation ceremonies earlier this year for exceptional work on their whitepaper.

RDC is a service that allows a user to scan checks remotely and transmit the scanned images and/or ACH-data to a bank for posting and clearing (Remote Deposit Capture Overview).  This represents the first iteration of RDC which a consumer using their home or office computer could scan the image while in an institution’s online banking service.  For a mobile device, the process is basically the same, however, instead of scanning the check, the consumer simply snaps a picture of the check while using a financial institution’s mobile banking application and the check is then transmitted to a financial institution for posting and clearing. In this report, “Tap. Snap. Deposit.”, authors explore RDC technology, outline some of the key risks and benefits of implementing RDC within a credit union, and provide real world experience from two credit unions currently providing RDC to their members.

The paper posits that RDC, as part of an overall mobile strategy, offers a significant opportunity for credit unions to remain competitive and relevant in today’s technology and convenience-driven marketplace. As team member Sean Leavell explains, “Millennials make up the largest segment of the population now, and research has found they prefer to get their service when and where they want it and it must be easy and convenient.  As the majority of smart phone users are millennials, credit unions must change quickly and adapt to new technologies to remain competitive in the marketplace.  New technology always represents a risk, but with the appropriate safe guards, credit unions can take advantage of newer technologies and protect their members’ money.  This is a fine balance for credit unions as new technologies are in most cases cost prohibitive, but one must weigh those costs with continued growth or possible irrelevance.”

To access a complimentary copy of the white paper, please visit www.srcus.org/management-school/student-white-papers/.

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