Fiserv Launches Mobile Deposit Capture for Prepaid with Check Guarantee (April 4, 2013)
Fiserv Inc. is the latest to offer mobile deposit capture for prepaid cards, with a new program targeting prepaid card processors that includes a check-guarantee service so cardholders may receive funds immediately instead of waiting several days for checks to clear. Fiserv’s Prepaid Source Capture, based on the remote deposit capture it has offered banks for several years, enables prepaid cardholders to use a smartphone camera to take a photo of the front and back of a check to deposit into a prepaid card account. Through an agreement inked with check-guarantee firm VALID Systems, Fiserv is enabling prepaid card processors to provide “near real-time” verification and instant funding for client cardholders using its mobile remote deposit capture service. Fiserv initially will offer Prepaid Source Capture to prepaid card processors, with plans to make it available to financial institution clients at a later date.
The check-guarantee element could help set the program apart, analysts suggest. Though a growing number of prepaid card providers, including American Express Co.’s Bluebird, also offer remote deposit capture capabilities, it can take four to five days for cardholders to receive funds after checks clear, Madeline Aufseeser, senior analyst with Aite Group, tells Paybefore. “Consumers that want immediate access to funds from checks may pay a fee for this service, which could be a revenue-driver for GPR card providers,” she says. Mobile remote deposit capture has been “a pretty hot” feature for prepaid cards over the last few years “and now it’s starting to become a regular component of GPR cards,” she says. Visa Inc. through a deal with Chexar last year announced mobile remote deposit with instant-funds access.
And GPR card providers, eager to increase prepaid cardholders’ loyalty and card longevity, may find that providing more ways for consumers to deposit checks and get immediate access to funds, is worth paying an extra fee for check guarantee, Ben Jackson, a senior analyst with Mercator Advisory Group, tells Paybefore.
