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Deposit Checks Using Your Phone [Redux]

March 21, 2010 in business, financial, technology | No comments

In August 2009 I wrote about USAA offering their depositors the ability to use their iPhones to deposit checks from the comfort of their home or wherever they may be.  The technology allows people to be free of the tedious chore of going to their bank to cash their checks.  It also allows them to have more freedom to go further with their bank, business wise.

A few days ago on Slashdot, the story re-emerged.  This time with more banks joining up on the offering for their customers.  The report doesn’t say when the ability will be available to their customers but it will be soon.

Applications to do just that are already available for Apple’s iPhone and other gadgets from USAA, a company that provides insurance and banking mainly for military veterans. Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are among the banks planning to release similar applications this year.

This is now happening thanks to government legislation and maturing technologies.  The specific technology to be used is called remote-deposit capture.

Here’s how it works. When you take a picture of a check, a computer that receives the image looks for the amount, the check number and the digits on the bottom with information on the check writer’s account number and the bank’s routing number. A photo of the back of the check verifies that it’s been signed by the recipient.

A banking clearinghouse then routes the funds from the check writer’s account to that of the recipient. That also prevents the same check from being deposited multiple times.

Of course, this is in the USA.  Where laws exist to enable the use of such technology.  What about the Philippines?  Do we have laws for this?  Existing or in the works?  I don’t know.  Our politicians are more interested in turf fighting and primping themselves for mass adulation and self mortification right now.

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I was WOWed!

March 16, 2010 in business, c'est la vié | No comments

Saturday.  It was after work.  I was tired.  Hungry.  Sleepy.  Yet I had to have my car’s tank filled up as it was already sucking vapor plus I needed some supplies for my cupboard.

There I was at the supermarket check out counter.  When it was all done and paid for I asked the cashier if the two bags were it to which she replied a positive affirmative.  Ok.  I took my two bags of groceries and went home.

I got home and there was no power.  Great, I thought.  I’ll leave the groceries until later.  Power came back and I succumbed to my fatigue and went to sleep.  Upon waking up and putting the groceries away, I discovered to my dismay that the cashier didn’t pack 5 items but billed me for them.  Darn it.  Now I have to waste my Sunday time to go back and get them.  An arduous 15km (one way) drive through traffic.

All the while going back to the supermarket, images of bad customer service haunted me.  An experience borne out of years of lousy service from this supermarket.  I was prepping my speech and becoming an irate customer.  Upon my arrival I went straight to the customer service desk and told them my story.  Three minutes.

Straightening my back and preparing for an argument I was stupified by the lady’s response, “Ok, sir.  Please have a seat while I have someone get the stuff for you.”  Incredulous, I sat down as instructed and prepared to wait.  Ten minutes later, someone came to me with a bag of my missing items and a ledger.  “Sir, please check and double check these items to see if they’re correct then sign here, here and here.”  Quiet, I went through the contents of the bag and determined all was there.  I signed the ledger and left for home.

Simply put, my worries on the way there were for nothing.  The company has changed.  Their customer service is now on the top of my list.  World class, to be sure.  I was humbled and wowed.  SM, for me, now stand for Simply Marvelous.

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KPIs: The Breakdown

February 17, 2010 in business, mentat notes

On my previous post, I discussed the major key performance indicators that any business model follows:  Service, Quality and Cost.  But I never translated them into the details of the operation as it applies to my friend’s coming distribution and logistics company.  I’ll discuss it now.

Service:  For the business model outlined already, this is how he needs to deliver his products to his customers.  To get it to them in the least amount of time, in the most efficient and effective manner.  Should he deliver using his own vehicles or out source?  If, for example, he follows the rolling store model (you know, those trucks that sell to sari-sari stores?) he has to have routes planned for each truck sales team and a fixed schedule plus forecasting the demand so as not to deviate from the set schedule.

Quality:  This shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.  He needs to ensure that his trucks and the products he sells are presentable, without damages or defects.  Which simply means he has to take care of the storage side of things and ensure the products are clean and stored properly, according the specifications.  Refrigerated, if he’s selling confectioneries or some other temperature sensitive product.  And his vehicles, well maintained.

Cost:  For costs, well, that will all depend.  The cost of the products he sells would most likely be dictated on him by his clients so there’s not much he can do about it.  What he can do, however, is go back to the scenario in the Service portion to control his costs.  He can do that by ensuring the timeliness and predictability of his vehicles route-cycle time and schedule.  For example, UPS has a program for certain cities that lets their vehicles avoid as many left turns as possible to lower down the cost of delivering their parcels to customers.  He can also choose to load the selling truck teams with the products most applicable to a certain route to maximize earnings.

Of course, to realize all this he will need information.  Lots and lots of information.  He can buy the information outright from certain government agencies or build up his own database or obtain it from his clients.  To build his own database, he’ll need a good software package, but, since I’m not being paid to endorse any specific product, all I can promise is help him review the software package he intends to buy.

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