Wells Fargo out here in the Wild West has had this for a little less than a year. Haven't seen a jammed one yet.

PNC has had this for over 5 years. Works great.

people really make that many deposits via an ATM?

amazing.

Haven't they been working on this for a while? I remember a BofA commercial with a guy talking about their current and future technology as far as checks and ATMs go and one of the things was being able to just put money in the ATM to make a deposit.

I just noticed the instructions say to insert or checks one at a time. The Wells ones out here have you deposit all your checks at once in a stack.

@gibsonic: I guess if there aren't any branches nearby.

we've had these in the DC area for several months now - they are pretty fantastic and I've only had to correct the deposit amount once so far.

BOA has had them in DC for 8-10 months. Pretty cool - I only deposit at an ATM every couple of months, but it is quicker and easier (no jamming yet that I've seen). Plus, there is nothing more annoying than rolling up to a drive-thru ATM and there being no envelopes.

My bank when I was in college had this, a little over 10 years ago. Mid State Bank in State College, PA. Was it just a pilot back then?

I thought it was exceedingly cool at the time. I have been surprised for years that I haven't seen it since.

We have these in ATL and most of the time they work fine; however, there's the occasional handwritten check or badly-aligned machine-printed check that the scanner misreads. While it does show you an image of the check and ask you to verify the amount, I have seen it misread the check's value by orders of magnitude (missing a digit, for example. so a ~$1000 check gets scanned as ~$100). If someone doesn't catch the error I can see all sorts of badness, as I have no idea how one would correct such an error after the fact.

@gibsonic: I made a deposit with a teller the other day thinking it would be faster because there was no line. It took at least twice as long. I don't understand issues with ATM deposits.

@JDobbs: I think the Wells Fargo machines take up to 10 checks. I've inserted up to 5 and it worked seamlessly. Same deal with cash.

@gibsonic:

I make lots of deposits via ATM. If I make a mistake in math, I get a letter from BoA highlighting my misdeed. Seems like such a waste for .13 in bad math.

We've had these in Atlanta for about 6 months or so. They're pretty helpful. I used to work for a small company that refused to do direct deposit for paychecks. I used to have to stock the ATM envelopes in my car for deposits. This made life sooo much easier.

@gibsonic: Do people still wait in queue at a branch just to make a deposit? it always amazes me to see people lining up to deposit, when it's much faster to do it yourself. It's also more profitable to the bank, and therefore you're rewarded by them ;)

Does this mean the cash deposits will post immediately , instead of days later?

I didn't think so? Why give you credit right away for money you give them, when they could just charge you overdraft fees up the yingyang?

@Gibsonic ATM deposits are sometimes more convenient than going to the teller line. for example my bank which happens to be Bofa :-/ will give me immediate credit of at least 100 dollars sometimes the full deposit amount on deposits made via the ATM rather than the next day availability done thru the teller line.

@gibsonic: Never had a problem. I'm at work while the bank is open on weekdays (I sleep relatively late and work a little late too) and sleeping on Saturday morning.

Now why is it when I was traveling on the East Coast, I saw BofA ATMs that would treat deposits as same-day til 8pm, when I can actually get there in time, when back here in St. Louis I have to go out of my way to get to one by 2pm, the cutoff time here?

It's the same freaking bank!

@Helvetian: People (like me) do this when they have cash to deposit. After the bank ATM lost a $450 cash deposit of mine (it was my word against theirs that I ever put the money in, and guess who's word the bank took?), I make an effort to hand cash to an actual person at the window.

@ceejeemcbeegee: Apparently, they trust us less than they trust the people who submit charges to our accounts.

Which is backwards. But it lets them charge more stupid fees if the charger is doing it fraudulently or screws up -- which happens more often than you would think.

Does BofA have a way to get a plain ATM-only card? I'd like to replace my check card so if my wallet is ever lost, someone can't run up charges on my account. The only thing I use the actual account for is to pay bills -- everything I buy goes on credit cards which are paid off every month.

The new ATMs are nice, unless you have lots of checks to deposit. I use to deposit my roommates' checks in one envelope, but now it takes four times longer. One benefit, however, is that the ATMs automatically add up your check amounts. Plus, the receipt has a scanned image of the checks on it, so it makes record keeping much easier.

And, gibsonic, I suggest you try making deposits via ATM. You'll soon see that it's much easier and faster.

wow..didn't mean to set anyone off. i just personally rarely darken the doors of a bank and even more rarely have to use the ATM for a deposit. I guess I didn't realize how many people still use them.

I guess it makes sense though that this technology would advance as does every other technology that reduces or eliminates waste, cost and human intervention. Automation FTW!

@gibsonic: Yep in my case my branch is in California and I live in Georgia (its a credit union I don't want to loose) I have been doing ATM deposits for 6 years of amounts up to 24,000 and no problems yet.

My local bank does not have this ability just yet. However, they have multiple branches in each town they are in and at least one of those branches is open 7 days a week (10am to 4pm saturday and sunday) and 9am to 7pm on M-F. They are the reason there isn't a BofA branch here despite being just 30 min. south of Dallas.

@ceejeemcbeegee: Hmm my deposits at my credit union (up to $5,000 per deposit) are available immediately.

As for the cash deposit loss thats always a risk. If I feel I am at a secure location(the co-OP atm I use is inside a secured office building) then I will count out each bill into the envelope in front of the video camera. Dunno if it would ever help in a dispute but cant hurt.

@Red_Eye: Do you do direct deposit?

Never, EVER deposit cash at an ATM.

I used to be a teller and there's really no way to prove that the amount of cash that you put into the envelope is actually there. We finally caught a teller who had been stealing for YEARS when she stole money from the envelope of a well-known customer. Before that point, it was her word vs. the word of mostly non-customers (they used the ATM but were customers of other banks).

The envelopeless ATMs are good all the way around in that the funds can be verified on the spot. They still don't post to your account until your bank handles them.

Meh. My atm will give me change. I can get $9.53 out of the thing if I want. Not sure if it will take bill w/o the envelope, but it will take checks that way. Scans the check immediately, might do character recognition on the value too.

@gibsonic: I was thinking the same thing, I really didn't realize people use ATMs to deposit so often. To be fair, I obviously would not use this with USAA, as they don't have ATMs, so my deposit options are nil. (prepaid envelopes for the lose? but Deposit@Home ftw)

I've seen these around though, and really they are impressive. At the banks I've used locally to deposit checks I've always hated having to wait in line for 20 minutes to perform something that could easily be handled with the appropriate scanning technology. Especially considering the checks are all scanned in batches if you go to the teller anyway.

Where I am from, Columbus Ohio, Huntington Banks did this about 10 years ago. They stopped about 2-3 years ago for some reason. Maybe they figured out a flaw that BofA will discover down the road.

@gibsonic: I don't make ATM deposits because I'm scared of them. I always go inside and stand in line.

@Buran: I know I had an ATM-only card when I only had my savings account with them and not my checking. I'm sure it can be done.

WaMu uses these. I've never had a jam, BUT I have been to their ATMs that are fresh out of envelopes or deposit slips. I just keep a stack of each in my car. It's so much faster than going in to the branch and waiting on line or going through the drive thru.

@Eyebrows McGee:

that's interesting.

I just do everything online and very rarely have to deal with "live" checks.

Our credit union has had this style ATM for a while now. Very easy to use.

I'd be reluctant to use one these. Paper jam being the obvious reason. I also wonder if they're picky about accepting certain bills. Kinda like those moments when you insert a bill into a vending machine and it keeps spitting it out because it was too worn or because it was wrinkled. :-)

Anyways, I'm thankful for direct deposit. I don't have to deal with ATM's or long lines inside the bank. The only times I go inside is when I want to cash a rebate check. And I usually go during off-peak hours, so I'm in and out in no time.

My CU has had these for a year or so now. They are so unbelievable slow when you have multiple checks. It takes a minute to image each check.

@CaliforniaBuyer: That's promising. I just emailed them via the online banking mail feature asking if they're available for my account.

@LatherRinseRepeat: I wonder if you still have the option of using an envelope.

I have direct deposit, too, but do cash the occasional check...

As for the vending machines, I've seen them pass COINS right through without crediting the amount put in but take a wrinkled bill. Don't know what's up with that.

About time.
The last time I went to make a deposit at the nearest BofA (Hollywood at Vermont), there weren't any envelopes for any of the seven (I think) ATMs. And this is typical, in my experience, and not just with that one branch.

When I do find 'em, I try to remember to hold onto a couple of extra, in case they're out next time.

As others have mentioned, these new atms are very slow when you have to deposit multiple checks. Otherwise I do like them since I get a receipt that has a scan of any checks I deposited.

I find the new ATMs slow period. I liked the older "black" screened ones. I guess that is what BofA gets for moving from the OS/2 based ATMs to the Windows based ATMs.

I was using these type ATMs at a little bank in Pittsburgh back in the mid 1990's. Good for Bank of America that they finally deployed them 10 years later?

You're not supposed to pay bills with cash, so I'm surprised they let you deposit cash in ATMs with the envelope system. Who really knows what their security process is?

@ceejeemcbeegee: Yeah. I found out the hard way that you should never ever put cash in an ATM. The processing center either screwed up or stole from me twice, and the second time, it was money I made waiting tables on CHRISTMAS. To their credit, BofA credited it back right away on a temporary basis, and eventually decided in my favor. But I now deposit cash inside the bank. I would suggest that people take cell phone photos of their checks, too, or at least wave 'em in front of the security cameras first.

@maddypilar: Go State! I think Mid State was bought by some other, less-well-run bank. It's a shame, they did a good job (and you're right, I remember their rad ATM too, though we called it a "MAC Machine").

@ceejeemcbeegee: Of course the regular funds availability rules apply. We can't expect banks, especially b of a, to do something to help out the consumer. It's all for profits: lure more tech geeks in with cool atms, and save money by not having to pay more people to sort through deposited checks. I would say these atms are dangerous in urban areas, or crime-ridden areas, because you will spend a lot longer feeding checks and bills to the machine and waiting to confirm EACH INDIVIDUAL ONE.
I would rather stuff all of my deposits in an envelope and drop them into a deposit box, like I do at my CU. No remembering to bring your ATM card, or forgetting a pin or machine troubles. Just drop them in. I never had a problem with them not posting the next business day.

I've been doing this with my chase branch for a couple of years now, looks like BoA is a bit slow, but then again they might be committing all their resources to customer service..

Is "deposist" a blog all about deposits?