Soon, more Spokane-area businesses will be able to deposit checks into their bank accounts without making a visit to a bank branch.


Some Spokane-based banks are ramping up a service the banking industry generally refers to as remote deposit capture, through which businesses can deposit checks into their accounts electronically. National and large regional banksWells Fargo Bank and U.S. Bank, among othersbegan offering such services to their commercial customers last year, and some banks based here say they cant bring the technology into the market fast enough.


Our intent is to get it up and running as quickly as we can, says Jim Brockett, senior vice president and chief information officer at Washington Trust Bank, of Spokane.


Washington Trust isnt alone.


Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank is wrapping up a pilot program for its remote-deposit capture service and plans to roll out that service, which its calling mybank, marketwide at the end of this month, says Dave Herbison, the banks senior vice president of treasury management services.


Twelve business banking customers are participating in the pilot program, and Herbison says, Its been met with resounding success.


At Washington Trust, the pilot program for remote deposit capture is scheduled to start this summer, and the bank plans to roll out the service this fall, Brockett says. He says a number of the banks commercial customers already have indicated that they want the service and have volunteered to participate in the test of it.


Spokane-based AmericanWest Bank recently hired a couple of people to develop remote deposit-capture services there, says bank spokeswoman Kelly McPhee.


Its on the slate for 2006, she says.


To set up one of its customers with remote deposit-capture capabilities, a bank equips a business and its multiple locations, in some cases, with specialized scanners connected to desktop computers. Depending on a banks system, either remote-deposit software is installed on the customers computer or accessed by the customer remotely via a banks Web site. The customer uses the imaging device to scan in their checks. After the check amounts are verified by the person who scans in the checks, the dollar amounts are totaled automatically, and the check images and amounts are sent via a secure electronic connection to a bank, where the deposit is recorded into a businesss account.


A person scanning the checks at a business has to verify that the amounts recorded by the device are correct and fill in the amounts for checks that couldnt be read electronically by the scanner before transmitting the deposit to the bank.


The imaging device uses character recognition software that automatically reads the amount for which the check is written. The technology is similar to that used by the U.S. Postal Service to read addresses on mail automatically, and banks use the same technology to process checks in their data centers. Banks here that use such technology report a first-read accuracy rate of between 75 percent and 85 percent.


Once a company has completed a deposit, it holds onto the checks for a short period of time, then destroys them. Of course, cash still must be taken to a bank branch to be deposited.


Bank executives say remote deposit capture has benefits both for a customer and a bank.


Herbison says that with the technology, a business can reduce its deposit-transportation costs, either by alleviating the need to have an armored-car service that transports its deposits to a bank branch or by eliminating a trip to a bank branch by one of the businesss employees, thereby freeing up that person to handle other tasks.


Kade Peterson, senior vice president and items-processing director at Sterling Savings, adds that in Sterlings research, We havent found anybody who spends less than 20 minutes taking a deposit to a bank, and they arent sending their cheapest person either.


Herbison says remote deposit capture reduces the amount of time that checks spend in desktop float, which refers to the time a check is at a place of business, but has yet to be deposited in the businesss account.


Brockett says that from a banks perspective, one big plus of the technology is that a bank can gather deposits from businesses without having a branch nearby. In a market like the Salt Lake City area, where Washington Trust has just one office currently, the bank theoretically could secure a larger chunk of business without having to build a lot of branches.


Im sure some of the big boys are viewing it the same way, Brockett says. How can I steal away a few hundred millions in deposits without building a branch?


Also, he says, thanks to the technology, Washington Trust eventually will be processing fewer checks in its back-end operations, which will enable it to handle a greater volume of business without hiring additional personnel.


For now, bank executives say, the service is viewed as way to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, because its a convenient tool that isnt offered by everybody. Quickly, though, it could become a service that commercial customers expect to receive.


For now, most banks either have a fee structure for the service in place or are crafting such a structure that includes rental fees for scanning equipment, monthly maintenance fees, and per-check deposit fees. For example, Sterling Savings charges $65 a month in equipment rental and $50 a month in maintenance fees, on top of its normal per-check deposit fee.


In many cases, though, a bank waives those fees if a business has deposits above a certain level. For example, Peterson says that of the 12 companies participating in Sterlings pilot program, none will pay for the remote deposit-capture services they receive once the banks program goes live, because they have a high level of average daily deposits.


Some banks havent decided whether theyll charge for the service. AmericanWest might charge fees, but doesnt know yet how they would be structured, McPhee says. Brockett says that Washington Trust will consider charging fees for the service, but adds, We wont view this as a moneymaker for the bank. Well be incenting business to use it.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.