How Remote Deposit Capture Works

A side effect of Check 21 is that, because the digital image of a check is now considered a legal document, businesses who receive checks as payments can now scan an image of the check and deposit it into their bank account from their office, eliminating the need to visit a bank. This process is commonly known as Remote Deposit Capture.

Today, more than one-third of financial institutions offer Remote Deposit Capture. Because of the web-based nature of 3rd-party software solutions such as DepositNow and Inovium RapiDeposit, there’s not much software for you to install on your own computer. Most of the core program runs on secure servers at the service provider's data center, protected by firewalls and 128-bit SSL encryption, ensuring the full protection of confidential information. The service company provides full system support for both hardware and software. Software upgrades occur seamlessly and automatically.

You can sign up for the service online, download the necessary scanner software, and buy or lease a scanner from the vendor's website. The cost of subscribing to the service varies depending on the volume of checks your business handles.

Not all remote deposit capture products are created equally. Property owners and managers should carefully consider the features and transaction costs of each product before signing on.

Below we have compiled a partial list of companies that offer Remote Deposit Capture solutions for the real estate industry. Visit their websites and contact them to find out the prices applicable to your particular needs.

• DepositNow
• Inovium RapiDeposit
• PropertyBridge Rent Module
• RealPage OneSite Payments

Key Benefits

Save Time: Processing rent checks the traditional way can be a pain in the butt, especially if you own or manage more than 50 units. Remote Deposit Capture significantly reduces the administrative burden of processing checks. There are no deposit slips to fill out and no more driving to the bank! This frees up schedules and eliminates waiting - "Should I go to the bank today or wait until more checks come in?"

Better Productivity + Lower Overhead: The improved efficiency of Remote Deposit Capture translates into big cost savings for businesses due to lower operating costs and improved employee productivity. Much of the error-prone manual labor of check preparation is eliminated, freeing your employees to concentrate on more value-added (and income generating) job tasks. In some larger companies that translates into fewer personnel needed for rent processing.

Faster Funds Availability: A big benefit of electronic deposits is the reduced float time for checks to clear. This means that the funds are made available much sooner, usually in less than 24 hours. Faster settlement means better cash flow and quicker access to working capital for your business.

Reduced Losses: Property managers are able to discover bad checks sooner, rather than waiting over a week to receive a returned check. Electronic transmission also accelerates a bank's ability to detect fraudulent checks. By capturing the information off the check faster, a company can quickly identify fraud attempts. Law enforcement officials and check fraud experts agree that quick identification of fraud attempts is one of the best ways to recover funds.

Expanded Banking Hours: Remote Deposit Capture offers convenient 24-hour deposit capability. Deposit checks anytime, including nights, weekends, and holidays. After hours checks clear the next banking day. At most banks, deposit cutoff times for same-day deposits are extended for RDC customers.

Accounts Management: Once you scan in the check, the software recognizes the customer name and amount, and imports the payment to the customer’s open invoice in QuickBooks or whatever accounting software you use. This means you not only get electronic deposits, but also automation of the accounting entries.

Online Check Image Archives: Because a scanner captures and retains a digital image of each check, the need for photocopying checks is eliminated. All checks are archived online for fast and easy access making it simple to find and retrieve any payment documentation for customers. To be safe, you should save the original paper checks in your files for a couple weeks or until you receive the bank statement, but after that you can just shred the checks that have been deposited because legal copies of past checks are securely stored online. Check images can be printed out on your desktop printer if you need a hard copy.

Multi-Function Platform: Remote Deposit Capture, automated clearing house (ACH) eChecks, and credit card payments can all be processed through the same service provider.

Consolidated Banking: Landlords can consolidate all rent check deposits for different properties into one bank account. This is especially beneficial for owners or property management companies that have multiple properties located in different cities and states. The RDC system eliminates the need for separate local bank relationships for your different properties in each community. By consolidating depository account relationships to one bank, you become eligible for lower per-item fees because of volume discounts. Your accounting department will no longer be burdened with the time consuming administrative functions required to manage multiple accounts.

Geography Disappears: Flexible online reports means data can be rapidly shared with the management team, no matter where they are physically located. The corporate main office no longer has to wait for all its property managers to fax or mail deposit reports. The supervisor or owner automatically receives an e-mail first thing in the morning reporting the total deposit amounts made by electronic deposit at each property the previous day.

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