In an Australian banking first, eligible customers can now scan and deposit cheques from their smartphone using Westpac Mobile Cheque Deposit.

The feature enables customers to upload a picture of the front and back of their cheque to the Westpac app. The cheque will usually clear and be in the chosen transaction account within three business days.

Westpac research shows that almost half (41 per cent) of Australians still use cheques to make or receive payments.

George Frazis, Chief Executive, Westpac Consumer Bank said: “While cheques have a reputation for being old-fashioned, we still receive more than 30,000 cheques from customers every day.

“We’ve introduced our Mobile Cheque Deposit feature to offer customers even more choice and convenience in how they do their banking.

“Now, more customers will have the capability to deposit their cheque via smartphone, as well as the option of heading into a branch or visiting one of our smart ATMs.

“It is part of our continued strategy to be a leader in providing our customers with the latest banking solutions to meet their changing needs,” Mr Frazis said.

The new Mobile Cheque Deposit feature is now available for more than 1.65 million eligible Westpac customers, with more being added each week.

Eligible customers can deposit up to $1,000 within a seven day timeframe using Mobile Cheque Deposit. The feature is also underpinned by the Westpac Live secure online banking platform.

Mobile Cheque Deposit is available for both iPhone and Android users via the latest version of the Westpac mobile banking app.

Recently, Westpac was also the first bank in Australia to enable consumer payments using Siri voice control.