The cheque is in the (e)mail
2009-09-11 08:21
There are few things more annoying than being paid by cheque. You get to stand in a queue at the bank and then wait 10 business days to get your cash. Awesome. How much better would it be if you could just snap a photo of the cheque with your cellphone and hit send? Fantasy? Nope - reality.
Well, to be precise, it's reality if you happen to bank with USAA, an American financial services company. And you need an iPhone. So apart from these two tiny hurdles, it's a reality.
Annoying details aside, the technology really is astounding. You literally snap a photo of both sides of the cheque, hit "send", and you're finished. You can even throw away the cheque afterwards - it's that reliable.
And this isn't some zany experimental bank run by sandal-wearing Californians - USAA has seven million customers (most of them in the armed forces) and is based in Texas. If a bank for army veterans in the American South can do it, other banks sure as heck can.
Even the iPhone problem is a red herring. The iPhone has become like the Mercedes S Class of phones - the cool features you see on it now will be standard on all phones within a couple of years.
The thing is, has this convenience come too late? Cheques are dying out. They're something old people and municipalities use - a quaint 20th century technology with the same mechanical charm as fax machines and Model T Fords.
It's pretty remarkable they ever worked in the first place. "We've never met before but here's a piece of paper with an entirely theoretical amount of money written on it. I'll take this expensive suit / meal / camera and disappear from your life forever. Bye!"
No, if there's a future it's in gadgets like the Square iPhone Payment System - a handy doodad that lets you accept credit card payments via your overpriced designer phone. You swipe the card as usual and then sign the receipt using the touch screen. It sends customers their receipts via e-mail and even geo-tags the sale location.
But the cheque-laden status quo isn't a technology problem. The technology to photograph and process cheques remotely has been around since the late 90s when the internet took root and high quality digital cameras became commonplace (and arguably even before that).
It's really a willingness problem. Banks (and people) around the world would rather kill trees and burn oil to transport millions of little bits of paper around the globe than contemplate changing their outdated ways.
So banish that evil cheque book and kneel, as I do, at the altar of the all powerful Electronic Fund Transfer. The planet will thank you.
- Alistair is Social Media Manager at 20FourLabs.
Send your comments to Alistair
Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
- News24