The friendliest bank in the world, USAA, will soon let customers instantaneously deposit checks through its iPhone application.
The check itself is mainly ceremonial. It's a convenient, self-contained document with a couple of standardizations for machine readibility, but otherwise it's nothing special. Makes sense to combine recent technologies to simplify the process.
Using pictures of checks might seem to invite more fraud, but anyone wanting to engage in deception could always print their own checks by getting MICR toner and the font, both of which are easily and legally obtained. I've actually done this in a previous job. (No, I am not wanted by the FBI.) We were an outsource for printing balance transfer checks you get in the mail from credit card companies. Our printing press was an unremarkable HP Laserjet 4.
Why doesn't every major bank doesn't do this for all their customers? Use a Firefox / IE app if there's too many phone platforms. Simply tell customers that the cash can't be withdrawn until the check clears, which is often the case anyway.
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