Fidelity Investments® today announced the availability of mobile check deposit for registered investment advisor, broker-dealer and family office clients.
Using Fidelity's mobile check deposit technology, financial advisors and family office professionals can take a picture of a check using the camera on a smartphone or tablet and securely deposit the funds directly into their clients' brokerage accounts1. This mobile application underscores Fidelity's commitment to supporting the "anywhere advisor" with the right tools to increase productivity and create a better client experience.
Financial advisors and family office professionals are conducting more business than ever outside the office and see the value of their mobile devices. Almost 77 percent of advisors use at least one mobile device for business purposes2 and there have been more than 22,000 downloads of Fidelity Institutional's mobile applications, representing 42 percent of users on Fidelity's clearing and custody platforms. Using mobile check deposit, financial advisors who custody with Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services®, broker-dealers clearing with National Financial®, a Fidelity Investments company, and family office clients of Fidelity Family Office Services may be able to improve efficiencies and reduce expenses associated with the current processes required to ship checks overnight.
"This new mobile offering illustrates our commitment to anticipating technology shifts and helping our clients leverage new innovations effectively," said Edward O'Brien, senior vice president and head of platform technology, Fidelity Institutional. "Mobile check deposit -- a wildly popular consumer app -- was a 'given' to adapt for our 'anywhere advisors' and family office professionals, allowing them to spend less time processing checks and more time engaging with their clients."
Mobile check deposit for advisors and family offices exemplifies Fidelity's scale and commitment to bringing emerging technologies to bear for both personal and institutional investors for the purpose of creating the best customer experience via the company's innovation catalyst, n catalyst, the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT). The firm's early investment in mobile technologies has helped Fidelity Institutional adapt the firm's mobile check deposit offering for individual investors to the broker-dealer, advisor and family office audiences. Fidelity individual investors have widely embraced mobile check deposit since it was first introduced in 2011, depositing nearly $2.5 million dollars a day using the mobile app3.
In addition to mobile check deposit, remote check deposit is now also available to Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services clients, enabling them to use a Fidelity-approved desktop scanner to deposit client checks directly into their brokerage accounts. Since 2010, National Financial broker-dealers have been heavily using remote check deposit, depositing more than $27 billion in checks scanned from their desktops4. With these technologies, Fidelity can offer a range of options to suit customers' specific needs. Depending on the firm, they can work with a desktop scanner, a mobile device -- or both -- to deposit checks. Clients can work with Fidelity to determine the solution that is right for them5.
Using Fidelity's remote and mobile check deposit, advisors, broker-dealers and family office professionals can benefit from a faster, less expensive check depositing process, while also experiencing:
Real-time account validation to reduce errors
Reduced courier and overnight expenses associated with the current model that require checks to be shipped overnight for deposit
Reduced cycle time for posting deposits to clients' brokerage accounts
Integration with Fidelity's brokerage bookkeeping system
Subscription-based, near real-time alert notification of remote check deposit status
Process efficiencies due to reduced administrative tasks
For additional information about mobile check deposit, watch this video http://go.fidelity.com/MobileDeposit. For pricing information or to sign up for the phased roll-out of mobile and remote check deposit, which includes a qualification and enrollment process, call your relationship manager or home office.