Deposit cheques on iPhone

Even with the popularity of direct deposit, many still find themselves needing to trudge down to the local bank branch to deposit a paper cheque every now and then, but for members of one bank that may be a thing of the past, writes WalletPop.

The New York Times reports that USAA, a bank which primarily serves military members and has one branch, will soon let customers deposit cheques by taking a picture of them with an iPhone.

This is a giant leap forward in banking technology for most banks; but for USAA, which already lets customers deposit cheques with a scanner, it's simply a continuation of their strategy to reach out to customers who cannot easily reach its brick and mortar location.

City University is to receive government funding to develop anti-fraud systems for mobile banking, states ComputerworldUK.

The university will receive a modest £135 000 (R1.8 million) to conduct a three-year development project to create security systems for banking transactions for mobile phones that is more secure and simpler to use than current mobile banking methods.

If the project is successful, it will deliver security cost savings and market growth opportunities that far outstrip this initial investment.

Having fought a fierce battle on the marketing and sales front over the last two years to draw more customers into their banking halls, commercial banks have turned to technology as their new battle front, says Business Daily Africa.

As they seek diversify their products, banks are upgrading their information technology platform as a way to retain and attract clients.

“The drive to upgrade the core banking infrastructure is demand-driven,” says William Mzughula, operations director at Dimension Data, an IT service provider, as customers seek additional services and a wider variety of the services available.