Envelope-less ATM deposits are pretty cool
I always used to avoid depositing checks in ATMs. A few years ago, one of my friends got screwed when he deposited a check only to discover later that the bank had no record of it. I preferred handing them over to a teller and getting a receipt.
One Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, I realized that I forgot to deposit a rebate check that was going to expire the next day. The bank was already closed by the time I got there that day, and it’s not open on Sundays. With no other alternatives, I deposited the check through the ATM.
It turned out to be way better than dealing with a human teller.
This particular branch had newfangled ATMs that offered envelope-less deposits. I inserted my check, the ATM scanned it, used OCR (or maybe a mechanical Turk) to read the amount, showed me a confirmation screen to double-check the transaction, and printed out a receipt with a copy of the check. This is great:
- No more deposit slips.
- Minimal waiting in line.
- I get a receipt for each check. Since going to the bank was inconvenient (particularly for the above the reasons), it usually wasn’t worth making a trip just to deposit a $5 or $10 check, so I’d wait until I had multiple checks to deposit. Unfortunately I’d get a receipt only for the total deposit amount, which made it difficult later if I needed to determine if I had received and deposited particular rebate checks.
Procrastination pays off once again. Had I been responsible, I’d have deposited my rebate check promptly with a human teller and never would have tried using the ATM to do it.
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We don’t have the new-fangled ATMs yet (and probably won’t for a while), but I did get to experience one in the Bay Area and was perhaps overly impressed. My one “complaint” is that depositing multiple checks results in only “one” combined transaction which makes balancing against Quicken more complicated.
— Corrie @ August 25, 2008, 6:33 am (PT)
Wouldn’t you have the same complaint if you deposited with a human teller?
— James @ August 25, 2008, 10:54 am (PT)
Yes… which is why I always use the ATM. But I haven’t had the same aversion to ATMs that you have (nor have I had any problems).
— Corrie @ August 27, 2008, 2:25 am (PT)
yeah, agreed envelope stuff is a bit risky, but I’ve been doing it that way exclusively for a long time. no new fangled atms though. but still has all the convenience you mentioned.
though now that i’ve gone with ing, all banking is by internet. so to deposit, need to trust us postal service. which i agree is a little worrisome
— Ben @ September 4, 2008, 9:58 pm (PT)