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Co-op Financial will launch mobile banking service

Co-op Financial Services, a credit union service organization, dials up mobile banking.

November 28, 2010

Co-op Financial Services, a credit union service organization, is dialing up mobile banking in the hope that more young people will answer the call.

The service, Co-op My Deposit Mobile, enables iPhone owners to photograph and deposit checks into their bank accounts from their mobile phones. MFoundry Inc., a Larkspur, Calif.-based software firm, designed and built the mobile banking application, which is called Remote Deposit Capture. The software provides banking services via text messages, mobile browser and downloadable applications.

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Co-op Financial is offering the Co-op My Deposit Mobile to its 3,000 credit union members nationwide, said spokesman Bill Prichard. 

Members of the credit unions that decide to participate in My Deposit Mobile would download an application to their iPhone. The application enables the mobile phone user to photograph the front and back of a check before depositing the check's image into the cell phone owner's checking account.

My Deposit Mobile is being marketed as a convenience. Co-op, however, is offering it as part of a long-term strategy to assist its credit union members in attracting more young people as clients.

"Co-op My Deposit Mobile helps credit unions attract new members from growing consumer segments that expect flexible, easy access points to their accounts," said Stan Hollen, president and CEO of Co-op Financial Services. "These members include the young, tech-savvy and those who are cancelling their land lines in favor of mobile phones."

Co-op My Deposit Mobile is part of Co-op Financial's Check Imaging Suite. The other products include check deposits that can be made with flatbed scanners. Co-op offers two products, one for small businesses and another for home offices. Co-op My Deposit Mobile will be available in the first quarter of 2011.