Debating whether to e-deposit that cheque on your smartphone? While cheques may be going the way of the dodo, they are not yet out of the financial system in Canada. Birthday presents, baby-sitting money and post-dated rent cheques are still part of the regular money cycle.

As a busy small business owner, I had migrated most of my banking functions first to online and then to my mobile phone. But cheque deposit was that one function that ensured I had a regular date with the ATM or Bank Teller, rain, shine or .. being Canada .. endless months of snow.

When the Canadian banking system could finally offer eDeposit capability, I could not wait to take advantage of it. eDeposit – also known as remote deposit capture, mobile deposit, mobile check deposit, and more inventive trademark names such as Cheque-In or Deposit Anywhere – is using the camera on your smart phone to capture an image of your cheque, which can then be received and processed electronically by your bank.

Questions on the timelines to bring eDeposit to Canada, a general review of eDeposit at the various Canadian banks, the use of eDeposit for small business and the use of eDeposit in some other countries? Watch for upcoming posts.

eDeposit

Here is a quick assessment of the eDeposit functionality at TD Bank, CIBC and Tangerine. Each bank has a plethora of information (including some very clever YouTube videos) on how to use their app to deposit your cheque but if you wish to compare them, here are some comments and suggestions based on personal experience.

Before doing my test I downloaded the most current version of the app for each bank. I then eDeposited the cheque(s) at the same time of day under the same lighting conditions.

WHICH BANK OFFERS THE BEST USER EXPERIENCE?

The rest of this post is best read on a regular screen:

	TD	CIBC	Tangerine
Mobile App name	TD (Canada)	CIBC Mobile Banking	Tangerine Banking
BEFORE YOU START
Requirements & Minimum Tech Specs
Requirements & Minimum Tech Specs	Smart phone with camera Download/update app on phone TD Mobile Deposit link	Smart phone with camera Download/update app on phone CIBC eDeposit link	Smart phone with camera Download/update app on phone Cheque-In™ link
Directions on web
Before launching eDeposit	Endorse your cheque Write ‘For deposit only a/c #’	Endorse your cheque Write ‘For deposit only a/c #’	You do not have to endorse your cheque, but I recommend you do, adding the account #
DEPOSIT YOUR CHEQUE
Find the cheque deposit function on the app	Very clear – top bar	On the side menu	Less clear – drop down menu from top right corner
Ease of use	1. Select account from dropdown and enter amount. Option to enter a memo 2. Take a photo of the front and back 3. Get confirmation of deposit	1. Take a photo of the front and the back 2. Enter the amount of the cheque and select the account 3. Confirm when prompted and received a confirmation number and followup instructions	1. Take a photo of the front and the back 2. Enter the amount of the cheque and select the account 3. Get confirmation of the deposit and followup instructions
Availability of Funds & Limits	Clearly updated daily and monthly limits. Hold policy applies Improved cash flow – funds deposited <11:59PM are credited (pending settlement) to your account same day	Subject to your regular hold policy. Funds deposited <7PM are credited (pending settlement) to your account same day.CIBC eDeposit has a per deposit limit of $25,000. There are no daily, weekly or monthly limits associated with your deposit. If your deposit exceeds the limit, the application will alert you before your deposit is completed and you can then deposit those items at a branch or at a bank machine.	Subject to your regular hold policy. Funds deposited before midnight are credited (pending settlement) to your account same day.No limits on the number of cheques that can be deposited within daily, weekly and monthly deposit amount limits.
Camera	Used the technology within the camera to take the photos. No technology used. Tried 4 times to get a clear copy. The auto focus kept taking blurred shots	Auto-focused the photo.	Mitek technology – BRILLIANT. Set to Auto-Capture, and then use date field and MICR code to help you position, center and focus the image
Coaching & suggestions		Provide a number of suggestions from positioning to reminders & verification
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Confirmation	The only app that has a clear menu item for eDeposit history	There is a confirmation screen with a confirmation number and instructions at the bottom of the screen	You get a confirmation screen with a number, a note to watch your email for confirmation before destroying the cheque.You will also receive one email to let you know that the cheque was received for processing. A few days later you will receive a second email to confirm that the cheque cleared and asking you to shred the cheque.

Tangerine has done the most important things right – they have made the process EASY. As this video by Wendy Wong shows, that was very consciously by design. The use of the Mitek MiSnap technology means that I do not have the onerous experience of repeatedly re-taking the photograph of both sides of my cheque. TD and CIBC offer a number of additional features such as the Mobile Deposit History and the on-screen help functionality. But the experience is BEST with Tangerine.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

I have used eDeposit on each of these apps in the past, without issue. This time I ended up testing the error handling for each app without intending to.

I had voted Tangerine at providing the best experience for depositing a cheque via a mobile app.

However, when things do not go to plan, the other banks begin to show their value. It brought to mind a conversation I had with my local TD branch manager – you get what you pay for. You only call the ‘HELP’ desk when something is going wrong – and at those times, the better technologies and support show through.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
	TD	CIBC	Tangerine
The problem	The newest version of the app v7.0.2 only allows deposits when connected through mobile data (Android Samsung Note II).I would process all the deposit screens, but kept getting the message. Repeated attempts to re-deposit the cheque (approximately 5 each day for 4 days) kept returning the same error screen. Obviously, TD could not have been down that long. So I called the Contact Us section of the app to call through to Technical Help.	The cheque was written on an account that was closed.	The cheque I deposited was written on an account that was closed.
How they handled it	The Technical Help Desk’s first suggestion was to delete, then reload the app. When that did not solve the problem, they submitted an escalation ticket.	CIBC Handled the issue logically. The app showed the RETURNED CHQ on my account (but no explanation).Further investigation using CIBC online showed the actual cheque with a description of what caused the error. There was no need to call Customer Support.	The Tangerine app Account History showed a same day dated Reversal of Cheque-In Deposit. There was no reversal and no memos in the More section of the app.There was no explanation in the app and non online.A call to Customer Support brought to light that the cheque was being returned as it was written on a closed account. But it was being returned via snail mail. As of posting I still have not received the notification).
Suggestions for improvement	It is clear that the FAQ and Technical Help Desk are not aware of the root cause of this issue. They had received a few calls reporting the same problem. I debugged this issue after reading a thread on the TD site. Could save time with better error processing on screen.Change the script at Help Desk.1. Suggest the removal of special characters from the memofield2. Switch to mobile data instead of WiFi and retry.3. Delete, then reload the app.	Suggestion would be to include a memo on the Returned item in case I am travelling and have no access to the desktop.	While Tangerine was in the right to undo the transaction, I was not kept in the loop in a timely fashion – and had to call to figure out what was happening.More disturbing was that the Cheque-In Deposit processed email confirmed that EVERYTHING WAS OKI suggest adding a memo item to the online or app screen in case deposits are returned

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

TD:

What TD does right

Suggestions for improvement

+ The deposit button is easy to locate+ They have the most complete FAQ on their website, but it still did not offer suggestions on hitting technical issues+ The updated available deposit limits (Daily and 30-day) are clearly shown on the Deposit Cheque screen+ There are clear Next Steps detailed at the bottom of the confirmation screen+ The Mobile Deposit History screen listing all mobile deposits made in the past 30 days is clearly available in the app++ Your mobile deposit receipts are available for 6 months in the inbox of your TD EasyWeb Online Banking.

– Fix the app as soon as possible!- Change the message on the error screen to offer the user some active suggestions

– Change the script at the Technical Help Desk. Suggest that the caller use Mobile Data and remove special characters, before asking the caller to delete and then reload the app

CIBC:

What CIBC does right	What will take them to best?
+++ While I could not see why my cheque was returned on the app, the bounced/returned cheque showed clearly on my CIBC online screen and I was able to click through to verify what had caused it to bounce+ There are clear Next Steps detailed at the bottom of the confirmation screen	– Offer an auto-capture option similar to Tangerine- Add a deposit transaction history to the app, separate from the chequing account transaction history- Add a receipt to CIBC online Message Centre so that it is easy to find- Add an email or text alert if a eDeposit transaction has been bounced- Could add a real-time available deposit limit to the screen

Tangerine:

What Tangerine does amazingly well	Where they slipped up
+++ Clearly the best auto-capture technology. The entire photographing phase was comparatively painless.++ I received 2 emails – the first on June 11 let me know that my Cheque-In Deposit had been received. The second on June 15 let me know that it had been processed and that I could shred the paper cheque. (Normally a great process)+ Keep it simple – fast easy steps, less messing around	— Error handling is sub-par. I should not have to wait for snail mail (which I have yet to receive) to find out that an eDeposit cheque has bounced.- Snail mail is so ‘NOT’ Tangerine.- Add some functionality to the online banking and/or the app to be able to track the progress of the eDeposit (aka TD)

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Over to you:

} .. Have you used deposited your cheques via your mobile app?

}.. Care to share your experience?

} .. Are you concerned about security with the apps?

eDeposit cheques. TD, CIBC & Tangerine – who does it better?

eDeposit