Online accounts are a part of everyday life for savings needs of many of us – they offer better rates of interest and are more easily managed. Deposits can be made electronically, and regular deposits can be set up from one account to another.
Becoming more common now, and following on from the popularity of online savings accounts, are online checking accounts. They give us much that a bank cannot. You can review your transactions and account balance at any time, even when you are on the move, make bill payments online, and have no need to stand in line at an overcrowded branch or conduct your business at ATMs in the view of prying eyes.
You save on time, gas, and stress.
But the one big drawback that many have with online checking accounts is the difficulty of paying ion cash and checks. Your monthly salary doesn’t cause much of a problem: it can be paid into your online account just as easily as a branch account.
Contrary to many misconceptions, though, most online banks now accept deposited checks, and offer several ways for you to make those deposits. Even though the fine details of how each banks runs their particular deposit system, the methods follow one of a small number of general methods
Here are the ways that the main online banks accept checks as deposits:
Ally Bank
When you open an online account with Ally Bank, it will send you a number of postage paid deposit envelopes. All you have to do is send in your check and the deposit will be processed. However, Ally also allows you to scan a check and then send them the image online, and accepts this as the deposited amount.
Capital One
Similarly, Capital One lets its 360 account customers deposit checks using a mobile deposit feature that does the same job as Ally’s scanning facility. If you really want one, you can also have a check book to make payments from, too.
EverBank
EverBank has taken a step or three further than Ally and Capital One. Like Ally, it offers postage paid envelopes for you to send your checks in. And like both, you can scan and email checks, though you do have to enrol in its online check deposit system first. Over and above these methods, however, it’s also possible to make a check deposit into your EverBank online account through an ATM. However, this is a limited service across the country, so you may have to check online first to see if there’s an ATM near you that will allow you to do this.
FNBO
FNBO is probably the most primitive of the online banks in terms of accepting check deposits. They’ll only accept them by post, and you have to supply the envelope and pay the postage.
PerkStreet
Again, PerkStreet accepts postal deposits of checks, and you’ll get a bunch of their envelopes when you sign up for your account. You can also use UPS free of charge, and this means you benefit from next day delivery.
Scanning your check
The method for scanning and sending your check is fairly similar across all online banks:
1) Sign the back of the check, and scan both sides
2) Create a jpeg image of the check
3) Sign in to the bank’s system
4) Upload the check images
5) Enter the amount of deposit and your account details
6) Keep hold of the check until you have confirmation of deposit, and it shows on your account
In summary
There’s no reason to not benefit from using an online checking account. It saves time, effort and money. The time you can use to spend with your family rather than at the bank.
Online banking offers you greater flexibility of use, more privacy, and you can make payments and deposits in the comfort of your own home. Of course, the online banks won’t accept cash, but you wouldn’t send that through the post anyway, would you? If you do have cash to deposit, then you’ll need to deposit it into a branch based account and then wire the funds through to your online account.
It may not be long before checks are a thing of the past, but while they are still with us it’s good to know that they can be deposited into your online checking account. While scanning and sending may seem awkward at first, it’s actually simple and means the money hits your account balance quicker.
However, if you have receive regular payments by check – for example from a particular customer – it may be worth pointing out the benefits of making a direct deposit, in exactly the same way that an employer would do.
Whatever method you choose, isn’t it good to know that you no longer need to stand in line at the bank and all your banking can now be conducted in the privacy of your own home?
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