Businesses that subscribe to the DepositNow service can scan checks using a desktop PC, then deposit them online without making a trip to the bank. A second version of the product, DepositNow A/R, also reads the handwritten dollar amount on a check, then automatically matches it to the correct customer and invoice in the popular QuickBooks or PeachTree accounting programs. A version of DepositNow A/R integrated with Microsoft's Small Business Accounting system will also be introduced soon.

Both versions of DepositNow will be available through Windows Vista via PASS Commerce Center, which offers small businesses a new and better way to manage their cash flow. Other PASS merchants provide services such as credit card processing, online financing and e-mail invoicing.

Although remote deposit only became legal in late 2004, recent studies have found that as many as 100,000 businesses already use it. Inclusion of DepositNow in the Windows Vista launch, says BankServ CEO Dave Kvederis, represents a significant milestone for a technology that has become popular in the small business community despite its relative novelty.

"The fact that remote deposit was included in the Windows Vista launch shows that any business that receives checks could have a legitimate use for the service," Kvederis said. "People are beginning to realize how much time it saves - remote deposit can be as helpful to businesses as Direct Deposit was in the 1980s."

"If you combine DepositNow with all the other products available through PASS, you can turn your computer into a very powerful banking tool."