BOSTON - Branch image capture is quickly becoming mainstream, according to a new report from Celent LLC. Imaging ATMs, on the other hand, have a long way to go.
Check 21 acted as a catalyst for image-based check processing and fundamental changes to the way deposits would be made, arguably altering the competitive landscape in ways no other banking innovation has. But remote deposit is far from the only hotbed of distributed-capture adoption, Celent has found.
In the two years since Check 21 took effect, branch and teller capture adoption has increased significantly. Celent's findings in its new report, "The State of Distributed Capture: Imaging in the Retail Channel," include the following:
Branch and teller adoption has grown from 19,000 capture points in 2004 to 103,000 in 2006, and that number is expected to grow 160 percent to 272,000 by 2012, behind adoption by more than 90 percent of the United States' financial institutions.
To date, more than 2,600 FIs have implemented (or are implementing) branch capture, corresponding to some 141,000 scanners through March 2007. Based on aggregate vendor activity, Celent expects more than 3,300 institutions to have solutions by the end of the year.
Five of the nation's top 10 banks have image initiatives designed to convert existing envelope ATMs into image-based ATMs.
Distributed capture is moving from an item-processing phenomenon into the mainstream for retail banking, taking a prominent spot in both retail branch and ATM channels.
"For an increasing number of financial institutions, the question of branch capture is no longer if, but when," said Bob Meara, author of the report and a senior banking analyst at Celent. "And for nearly 1,000 financial institutions in the past year alone, the question of when no longer remains."
But image-ATM adoption will be far more measured. For most FIs, the ATM channel will be the last domino to fall in their image-migration plans, Meara says. The relatively few banks placing image ATMs on the front burner are doing so to improve the customer experience with the ATM channel.
"These ATMs, when accompanied by purposeful consumer education initiatives, can really move the needle, increasing transactions per ATM and changing the transaction mix," Meara said.
