According to reports in both The Telegraph and The Guardian, the government is on the verge of agreeing to allow cheque deposits to be made by photo, letting you submit cheques by phone or email.
This functionality has been available in other countries, such as the US and France, for a few years. Interestingly, the legislation allowing it in the United States came about following payment delays caused by the flight problems caused after 9/11.
The image above shows how Bank of America achieve mobile cheque deposits with their iPhone app.
It is thought that the change will speed up cheque clearing from the current 6-day timescale to the somewhat quicker 2-day period (which whilst quicker, still seems a little tardy in today’s “realtime” world). Rather than the physical cheque needing to be taken to clearing centres, the image of the cheque can be transferred digitally between banks.