Barclays is hoping to become the first bank in the UK to enable its customers to take a picture of a cheque in order to cash it with their bank.

To date, customers have only been able to post a cheque to their bank to have it verified, or go into a branch. The bank confirmed to The Telegraph that it hopes to offer cheque imaging to its customers, a service that is already used by JP Morgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America in the US, as well as banks in France and Asia. The service would operate as part of Barclays Mobile Banking rather than Pingit, a spokesperson told Mobile Marketing.

The idea surfaced on Barclays Your Bank online suggestion site, where more than 3,000 of its customers have added their ideas for new services and products. Many of the suggestions submitted relate to mobile, including enabling customers to manage more than one bank account within the Barclays app, as well as being able to set up new payees on their smartphone.

“Although we haven’t made any decisions on introducing a service to pay in a cheque online or through a mobile just yet, we know it’s something that Mumsnetters and business customers have told us would make their lives easier,” said Catherine McGrath, MD of Retail Bank at Barclays. “On our Your Bank site, we encourage everyone to contribute their thoughts for making everyday banking better so that we can look at shaping our banking around our customers needs.” 

Under current law, the service would be limited to Barclays customers paying in money from fellow bank users, as the bank from which the money is to be taken has to see the physical cheque before it is given.