The article we highlight here is a sometimes humerous look at how inconvenient and inelegant new technologies can be, especially those dependent on manual processes. Even though smartphones take amazing pictures, the challenge of getting a check in just the right frame with the just the right amount of exposure can be a barrier to adoption. From a Reuters blog post:
…but the fact is that even supposedly easy things, like depositing a check by taking a photo of it, are in reality quite hard and full of frustrations.
As the author rightly points out, why should the market be investing in depositing checks to begin with? Because they are not going away. The author suggests that the Federal Reserve should get involved, be bold, take the final steps necessary to move paper out of the system. Well, the United Kingdom made some pretty bold statements not too long ago about eliminating checks and that’s not going to happen either. The biggest problem is the fact that for businesses, checks may still be the most efficient (meaning cheapest) way to pay someone. That’s the problem the market needs to figure out. If we want checks out the market, we need to make electronic payments cheaper to produce and distribute.
Click here to read more from Reuters.