News

More consumers favoring ATM, RDC check deposit

February 10, 2014

Though the majority of U.S. adults still prefer to deposit checks at the teller window, increasing numbers favor self-service methods for check deposit, primarily ATMs or their own mobile phones or computers.

The fifth in a series of eight Insight reports, "Self-Service, ATM, and Other Channel Banking: Rising Use in a Mobile Era," from Mercator Advisory Group highlights consumers' rising use of and interest in a wider variety of self-service and ATM channels. This is especially true of those consumers who are most adept at using smartphones, tablets and mobile banking.

These findings come from the 2013 CustomerMonitor Survey Series by Mercator's primary data service, which collected responses from 3,001 U.S. adults in an annual online Banking and Channels survey, conducted in November 2013.

The survey found that a preference for depositing at ATMs is on the rise for both $50 and $1,000 checks. Consumers also increasingly prefer to use their mobile phones and computers to remote deposit capture $50 and $1,000 checks.

This is especially true for smartphone and tablet owners, who are just as likely to prefer to deposit via ATMs or remote deposit capture as to prefer teller deposit of $50 checks.

This Insight report examines demographic shifts, changing preferences, and use of self-service channels compared with traditional branch banking.

The report identifies:

• trends in consumer methods of communicating with their bank and frequency of contact, methods, and preferences for getting cash and depositing checks;
• use of ATMs by type and location;
• willingness to pay surcharges for convenience;
• importance of ATM characteristics in new bank selection; and
• interest in using mobile cash access, self-service kiosks, and videoconferencing for discussions with banking specialists and separately for conducting bank transactions.

"The proliferation of mobile channels appears to stimulate ATM and self-service use, not supplant it," said Karen Augustine, manager of primary data services and author of the report.

Highlights of the report include:

• year-over-year trending of U.S. adult consumer use of self-service banking channels and frequency of use by each method;
• frequency and use of ATM deposits, envelope vs. no-envelope, cash vs. checks;
• demographics of preferred methods of depositing high- and low-value checks;
• shifts in methods of getting cash and depositing checks;
• importance of ATM features and functionality in new bank selection;
• importance of enhanced functionality, payment services, and coupons and rewards offered at the ATM; and
• trends in use of and interest in in-branch videoconferencing with product specialists or teller-assisted videoconferencing for conducting transactions.

The following is one of 28 exhibits included in the 66-page report:

Read more about trends and statistics.