Digital banking has totally changed how most people bank. No more phone calls to check balances. No more paying bills with a paper check. And no need to run to the bank to deposit a check.
But there’s one thing you need to do when you deposit a check on your phone: Keep the check for two weeks. Seldom will you need it, but it’s better to keep it on hand than have to ask someone to provide you with a new check.
When making a mobile deposit, it’s important to keep your paper check until we notify you that the check has cleared. You’ll typically get this notification via email within hours of making the deposit.
You’ll Get 2 E-mails from INB
Nathan Van Zele, AVP, deposit operations at INB, says customers will receive two emails from INB regarding a mobile check deposit.
- The first one will come right after you’ve successfully made the mobile deposit. This basically indicates we’ve received your deposit.
- The second email will notify you that you have access to the funds from the deposit or let you know that we have a problem with the check you submitted.
“In the past three months, we’ve had to reject 3 percent of the checks submitted through digital banking,” Nate explains. “The most common issues are missing endorsements, the person who signed the check wasn’t authorized to do so, or the check is missing the phrase ‘For Mobile Deposit.’”
To help assure your check is deposited, Nate reminds customers to have an authorized user of the checking or savings account sign the back of the check. Also, INB requires the phrase, “For Mobile Deposit” under the signature. Nate explains, “This safeguard assures the bank that the check doesn’t get deposited twice . . . once via mobile and another time with an in-branch transaction.” We do not accept an “x” or checkmark next to the pre-printed phrase on the back of some checks.
Back to Keeping Your Checks
In most cases, when you make a mobile check deposit, INB immediately “memo credits” your account giving you access to the funds. Memo credits put the risk on INB to trust that the check you’re depositing isn’t fraudulent and that the person or organization you got the check from has the cash in their own checking account.
Nate explains: “Roughly 75 percent of all checks deposited through mobile are automatically approved as if they were in-branch deposits. This memo credit feature is valuable after normal bank hours and on weekends when you have a check to deposit and need access to the cash. But the remaining 25 percent of the deposits are flagged for manual review. We do those reviews Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you won’t have access to the money until that time.”
The memo credit feature, which was introduced in the past couple of years, means it is very likely you’ll have immediate access to the cash from a deposited check.
But that leaves 25 percent of all mobile deposits which are not memo credited and need a manual review. This manual review could mean needing access to your paper checks again. So don’t shred or destroy them until you’re sure your deposit has gone through.