- Impact
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Interesting article in the USA Today paper and online. All credit to USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-05-11-debello-mitek-wireless-checks_N.htm
No mention of ".mobi" but this is where the world is heading.
Here is the piece that caught my eye.
Giving Mitek a new direction
In 2003, dissatisfied with the direction the company was taking, Thornton installed DeBello as Mitek's new CEO. Since then, DeBello has divested two products and redirected the company toward mobile imaging.
The result: In January, Mitek announced a new software application, Mobile Deposit, designed to allow consumers to scan and deposit checks into their bank accounts using the cameras on their mobile phones.
Although some banking experts believe consumers will embrace mobile banking in the near future, DeBello wants to market the product to small businesses that accept and deliver goods or services. Of the 32 billion checks written in the USA each year, DeBello says 20 billion are for business transactions.
For truck drivers who collect cash on delivery, Mitek's application would allow them to cash a customer's check instantly, instead of leaving the premises and hoping that the check doesn't bounce. It would also come in handy for anyone from the plumber to the Amway salesperson who accepts checks for payment.
"Mobile banking 1.0 was bill pay and balance transfers on the cellphone," DeBello says. "Mobile banking 2.0 is about payments. We have a real big piece of that in terms of the ability to deposit checks."
For Mitek, which lost $384,000 in fiscal 2007 on revenue of $5.6 million, the new product could transform red ink into black. DeBello's now working with several companies to test drive the product.
How Mitek's technology can be put to work
"This is a technology that will change the game," says Chris Cramer, CEO of Karl Strauss Brewing, a San Diego craft beer. California state law restricts how much credit a beer distributor can extend to restaurants and bars, and Cramer says he's considering putting Mitek's new application into the field.
"There's tremendous turnover in the restaurant business," Cramer says. "You need to keep people 30-days current. Here's an opportunity to know instantly if there are sufficient funds in an account, and to have that information routed through the accounting system and go to the (chief financial officer's) desk so he can make a decision."
Danny Jett, executive vice president at Georgian Bank in Atlanta, says Mitek's product could add greater efficiency to the banking process. "All banks are suffering from margin compression," Jett says. "You look for ways to do things more effectively. That's what I see with Mitek's product. Is it going to be accepted now? Who knows? But within 12 to 18 months, acceptance will increase. That's the way Internet banking was."
No mention of ".mobi" but this is where the world is heading.
Here is the piece that caught my eye.
Giving Mitek a new direction
In 2003, dissatisfied with the direction the company was taking, Thornton installed DeBello as Mitek's new CEO. Since then, DeBello has divested two products and redirected the company toward mobile imaging.
The result: In January, Mitek announced a new software application, Mobile Deposit, designed to allow consumers to scan and deposit checks into their bank accounts using the cameras on their mobile phones.
Although some banking experts believe consumers will embrace mobile banking in the near future, DeBello wants to market the product to small businesses that accept and deliver goods or services. Of the 32 billion checks written in the USA each year, DeBello says 20 billion are for business transactions.
For truck drivers who collect cash on delivery, Mitek's application would allow them to cash a customer's check instantly, instead of leaving the premises and hoping that the check doesn't bounce. It would also come in handy for anyone from the plumber to the Amway salesperson who accepts checks for payment.
"Mobile banking 1.0 was bill pay and balance transfers on the cellphone," DeBello says. "Mobile banking 2.0 is about payments. We have a real big piece of that in terms of the ability to deposit checks."
For Mitek, which lost $384,000 in fiscal 2007 on revenue of $5.6 million, the new product could transform red ink into black. DeBello's now working with several companies to test drive the product.
How Mitek's technology can be put to work
"This is a technology that will change the game," says Chris Cramer, CEO of Karl Strauss Brewing, a San Diego craft beer. California state law restricts how much credit a beer distributor can extend to restaurants and bars, and Cramer says he's considering putting Mitek's new application into the field.
"There's tremendous turnover in the restaurant business," Cramer says. "You need to keep people 30-days current. Here's an opportunity to know instantly if there are sufficient funds in an account, and to have that information routed through the accounting system and go to the (chief financial officer's) desk so he can make a decision."
Danny Jett, executive vice president at Georgian Bank in Atlanta, says Mitek's product could add greater efficiency to the banking process. "All banks are suffering from margin compression," Jett says. "You look for ways to do things more effectively. That's what I see with Mitek's product. Is it going to be accepted now? Who knows? But within 12 to 18 months, acceptance will increase. That's the way Internet banking was."
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