"We knew that this would be popular but we had no idea just how much pent up demand there was for a quick, easy way to deal with checks," writes Senior Director of PayPal Mobile Laura Chambers.
Mobile check capture was introduced in version 2.7 of PayPal's iPhone app. Users will now find an "Add Money From Checks" option in the Tools sections of the app. After agreeing to the terms and conditions, users can take a photo of the front and back of a check to electronically deposit the funds into their PayPal account.
PayPal wasn't first to introduce the mobile check capture feature -- the online payment platform was preceded by brick-and-mortar Chase Bank's Quick Deposit app. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but PayPal will walk away as much more than a flatterer.
User demand speaks to a prescient general public interest in the feature; the functionality offers PayPal a way to maintain mobile payment dominance over the lot of up-and-coming trendy startups like Venmo attempting to edge their way in to the space.