Some technological changes are incremental. Some are more than that.

This month’s announcement from Apple about new iPods, for example: There were some new iPods and a new version of iOS. Nothing earth-shattering — and I’m not knocking them for that. Not every product introduction is going to be like the first iPhone reveal.

But sometimes things — even little things — come along that fundamentally change the way you’ve been doing something for years — decades, even.

A little while ago, I upgraded my iPhone app from Chase. Like most banking apps, it had allowed me to check balances and pay bills from my phone. But the upgrade included a new feature that kind of floored me: It could take a picture of a check made out to me and make a deposit based on that image — no trip to the branch required.

Now, Chase is not the first bank to have this feature. USAA has had it for a year now. Bank of America has been playing around with it for some time, but has yet to release it to its customers. (Our Your Money columnist, Ron Lieber, wrote about this back in March.)



The process is terrifically simple: Once you are in the app, you tap on “deposits,” which activates your iPhone’s camera and brings up a viewscreen with some guides and commands. Line up the check with the guidelines on your screen, hold the iPhone steady and push an onscreen button. You then do the same for the back of the check. (The endearing Chase TV ads with newlyweds in bed also show how.)

The image is then sent to Chase’s computers, which use optical-character recognition software to “read” the information on the check. The software is impressive, able to read both handwritten (to a point — the software cannot read extremely messy, doctor handwriting) and printed checks. Once Chase’s computers have determined the check’s value, routing number and account number, the app displays a screen recapping the information, which you can then confirm with a click. About a minute later, you get an e-mail from Chase confirming the deposit.

So that’s pretty amazing. I came home last night, opened some mail and found a reimbursement check from my dental insurer. About two minutes later, I had deposited the check. From my dining room.

I know what some of you are thinking: What about security? Well, it’s really not that big a deal. For starters, the data traffic between Chase and your iPhone is encrypted. Furthermore, an image of a check and a check itself are basically the same thing: a series of instructions directing sum X from Account A at Bank A to Account B at Bank B; the check, unlike cash, has no intrinsic value. Could some enterprising hacker figure out a way to subvert this? Sure. But someone could also steal your checkbook or an unscrupulous call-center worker could copy down your credit-card information. There’s always risk, but this is no riskier than most everything else we do.

There are a few limitations: Chase only allows up to $1,000 a day and up to $3,000 a week to be deposited this way. I’ve gotten pretty good with taking the photos of a check, but I still sometimes have to try two or three times before the app recognizes the image.

But let me repeat: I don’t have to go to the branch anymore. I can deposit checks whenever I want, from wherever I am. And it’s not like going to a bank branch was some magical experience to begin with — most were like D.M.V.’s with slightly better furniture.

Now, the only complaint I have here is that I want more. Specifically, why haven’t Internet-only banks jumped all over this? It’s great that Chase has this feature, but where I live, you can’t swing a cat and not hit a Chase branch. Where it would really make sense is with an online bank like Fidelity, where I do most of my day-to-day checking. Fidelity has no branches of its own (just like Charles Schwab’s bank, Everbank or a host of other online banks) — the only way you can deposit a check is to mail it in, which takes forever. Add something like mobile check deposits and you just knocked out one of the main obstacles people have to joining an online bank.