I hate having to drive to my local Bank of America ATM or branch just to deposit one check…especially if it’s a small amount. Chase Bank has had a deposit by phone feature for a while so I’ve been waiting for my bank to get the same. Well, BofA has finally stepped up their game.
Yesterday, Bank of America’s iOS app was updated to version 4.0.392 giving customers some new options such as:
- Make check deposits with your iOS phone up to $5000 ($1000 for new accounts)
- Choose BankAmeriDeals and earn cash back
- Get Bank of America Alerts via push notification
- Send money to others via email address or mobile number (requires online setup)
Once you update your iOS app, you’ll see some changes to the BofA app (outlined in green below)
Mobile Check Deposits
Clicking the Deposits button will take you to the introduction screen and then to a secure screen where you are able to snap a picture of the front and back of the check, pick an account to deposit it into, and enter the amount for verification. I’m assuming your deposit will be ready according to regular BofA deposit rules so you should check with BofA first if you have any questions. All in all, this part of the app is quick and easy.
BankAmeriDeals
If you participate in BofA’s BankAmeriDeals program, which is essentially a cash-back program, you can now see deals you can “subscribe” to right from the app.
I haven’t personally used this program yet so, if you have, leave a comment and tell us how it works for you!
Push Notifications
Even though they’re a little behind the times on this feature, you can now subscribe to push notifications on your iOS device.
You can subscribe to a number of notifications such as:
- Debit card charge made online, by, phone, or mail
- Direct Deposit credited to your account
- Available Balance
- Check #___ has posted
- Debit card transactions outside the US
- Balance transfers
- Online bill payments
- Low balance notifications
and others on a per-account basis.
General notifications are available like Insufficient funds, notice of address change, and Daily Balance Notification among others. Notifications are also available for the BankAmeriDeals portion of the app. I find the notifications are a nice addition that gives me an “early warning system” for any transactions that might be fraudulent or questionable.
Wrap Up
Even though they’re a little late in the game, BofA’s iOS updates will be a timesaver to a lot of customers. It’s probably no coincidence that these new features arrived just a few weeks after BofA announced they were reducing ATMs across the country in order to cut $8 billion from its expenses by 2015.
If you don’t have the Bank of America app yet, you can get it as a free download for the iPad or iPhone in the App Store.
