U.S. Bank Offers Mitek’s Mobile Photo Bill Pay to Customers (Jan. 8, 2013)
Jan. 8, 2013
Customers of U.S. Bank, Minneapolis-based lead bank of U.S. Bancorp, now will be able to set up bill payments by photographing their paper bills using the camera on smartphones and tablets. Mobile Photo Bill Pay could help spur bill pay adoption by eliminating the need to manually enter biller and payment information, and enabling the customer to make bill payments directly from their mobile devices.
By partnering with Mitek Systems, a San Diego-based mobile imaging software solutions provider, U.S. Bank says it will be the first leading financial institution to offer the service to customers in early 2013. When a picture is taken of a bill or remittance coupon, the technology automatically extracts relevant information and auto-populates the fields required to make a mobile payment, according to Mitek. The consumer then schedules the payment and clicks Pay. Consumers can add a new payee to their online bill pay, pay one-time or non-recurring bills and set up recurring bills and payments.
There is no word yet on whether U.S. Bank will offer the service to its prepaid cardholders, however Mitek is “actively speaking with prepaid card issuers and program managers about Mobile Photo Bill Pay,” Julie Cunningham, vice president, investor relations and corporate communications, tells Paybefore, adding that the company announced last October more than 20 prepaid initiatives with issuers, direct billers, major retailers and wireless providers.
“These initiatives began with mobile deposit, but Mobile Photo Bill Pay is a natural extension since many in the underbanked segment without a traditional DDA account are forced to pay their bills in person,” she says. “U.S. Bank was our first commercial agreement signed, but we look forward to more exciting announcements in 2013.”
