How do you scan a check on your PC?

Generally yes the apps tend to be easier to use for most things, especially with a high-speed internet connection. Customers prefer them, banks build them since customers prefer them.

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freedomben 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

My PC has had a scanner connected to it for over 20 years, and in the mid 00s I was scanning and depositing checks through my bank's website (USAA). Even with modern cameras and fancy smarphone software, the results you get from a PC scan are still much better than taking a picture with your phone.

If you don't have a scanner, nearly all laptops have a webcam built in, and many people have one for their desktop as well.

On top of all that, there's no reason you can't use your smartphone camera to upload an image into a website through the mobile browser. I've done it many times for things. Just this morning I "scanned" a receipt into Ramp by taking a picture with my smartphone in the mobile browser.

You can't invade the user's privacy nearly as well in a browser (which is great for analytics/marketing), so there's a lot of incentive to the app creator to force a mobile app. But I think we should be honest that it's not for the user, it's for the company.

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ericmay 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> My PC has had a scanner connected to it for over 20 years

You're basically the only person in America doing this. Tens of millions of folks are just scanning it with the app on their phone and it's objectively a much better experience lol. The resolution of the photo taken on your smartphone is beyond good enough, there's no need to over-engineer something here.

> You can't invade the user's privacy nearly as well in a browser (which is great for analytics/marketing), so there's a lot of incentive to the app creator to force a mobile app. But I think we should be honest that it's not for the user, it's for the company.

I agree with your first sentence, but not your second one.

Banking applications can certainly get more/different data on you from using the app, but the job of the bank is to protect money and to know their customer. Privacy is secondary, of course outside of things like other people knowing your account balance, unauthorized access, &c. That's for the bank, because they don't want to lose your money, but it's also for you because you don't want other people getting access to your money.

	▲	bobtheborg an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Make that two people. I much prefer to slap the rare check on the scanner than fiddle with the phone. My banks "scan the check" part of the app was buggy for a long time, so maybe that jaded me. (~"move closer", ~"move away", ~"increase lighting"...)

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bob1029 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> the results you get from a PC scan are still much better than taking a picture with your phone.

The quality of the check images is not as big of a deal as you might think. No one is actually inspecting these unless the amount of deposit is near a limit or the account is flagged for suspicious activity. You definitely do not want to throw away the physical copy until the bank confirms the deposit.

	▲	freedomben 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes I totally agree. Mainly I threw that in there to pre-empt any "quality" argument that someone might try to use for why native mobile app is needed.

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ninalanyon 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Haven't written or received a cheque in thirty years. But surely you could do it with any kind of digital camera, even a webcam.

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simonw 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Out of interest, do you live in a country other than the USA?

(I'm guessing you are because in the USA they spell it check, not cheque.)

I asked because the USA still seems to be stubbornly check-focused.

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rkomorn 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Is it? I lived in the US for 20+ years until 2021 and, though there were definitely more checks than I see in Europe now, the frequency with which I used them was approaching zero, which definitely wouldn't qualify as "stubbornly check-focused".

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ghaff 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm in the US and things are definitely less check-centric than they used to be but I still probably write or receive a couple a month.

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rkomorn 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I guess there's also a difference between "can use checks" vs "have to use checks" because, aside from rent, I can't recall having to write checks.

Everything else allowed either credit card or direct debit on top of allowing checks.

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ghaff 34 minutes ago | parent [-]

Both my housekeeper and contractor use checks and, while I could get the bank to "write" them checks, it's easier to just hand them a piece of paper. I've also needed to pay my neighbor something from time to time and it's easier to just write a check. I do also periodically receive checks from various institutions.

	▲	rkomorn 6 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I guess to me there's just a big difference between what you're describing (which matches what I remember) and "stubbornly check-focused" as ancestor comment said. I do find the money transfer options where I am in Europe much easier, though, and they do make checks and PayPal/Zelle/Venmo pretty obsolete too, IMO.

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bluedino 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Visioneer paperport!

I wonder if you can use a webcam?