Mitek has released its 2018 Mobile Deposit Benchmark Report, a rating of the mobile deposit experience for 20 U.S. retail financial institutions. Ratings are based on the quality of the in-app customer experience and customer-friendly RDC policies.

The report reveals that FIs that invest in improved UX design for mobile deposit and allow higher deposit limits lead the way in digital channel migration. The top five FIs for best mobile deposit user experience in 2018 are:

1. Capital One (No. 1 in 2017)
2. Wells Fargo (No. 2 in 2017)
3. US Bank (No. 6 in 2017)
4. BBVA Compass (No. 3 in 2017)
5. Suntrust (No. 11 in 2017)

The report also shows that consumer adoption of digital banking continues to rise. BBVA Compass recently reported a 30 percent year-over-year increase in mobile active users, while Wells Fargo counts 28.1 million total active digital users, 21.2 million of which use mobile banking, according to a press release.

Given the rapid adoption of mobile financial services among U.S. consumers, mobile deposit is a must-have digital banking capability, Mitek said.

"The bar is rising for mobile deposit excellence, as it should be, as more people rely on mobile deposit for routine transactions," Futurion CEO Jim Van Dyke said in the release. "FIs that evolve their methodologies and requirements are the ones that will ultimately succeed in attracting the most lucrative digital customers in today's competitive environment."

The top three factors driving change in this year's rankings were:

• Increase in deposit limits: Overall deposit limits are now 16 percent higher than they were in 2017. This is the single most important area in driving increased adoption, because if a user is blocked from depositing a check, the only alternative is to travel to a branch or ATM.
• Customer-centric user interface: A seamless and easy-to-navigate UI is essential to the customer experience. Special attention needs to be given to improving instructions, how-to guides and self-help.
• Paper check hold times: Long holding times for checks diminish customer confidence and convenience and limit channel migration. The shorter the hold time the greater the consumer confidence.

"Because Mobile Deposit is the foundation of a successful digital banking business, customer experience could not be more important," Michael Diamond, Mitek general manager of payments, said in the release."FIs that are committed to developing the best in class digital channel need to focus on their consumers' experience and incorporate mobile deposit services like auto-capture and real-time updates that remove barriers to adoption and improve usage."

Download the full report.

The report was developed by fintech and digital commerce research firm Futurion, and benchmarks customer experience for 20 large U.S. retail multi-channel FIs (up from 15 in 2017). All data were independently analyzed and reported by Futurion, with data collection and other areas of active involvement by Comrade Agency and CI&T.

Miteck collected and analyzed UX data across six user experience or heuristic categories, comprising a total of 24 individual categories. Two risk-related policy categories were also rated. Each FI's average standing within each of the six UX and two risk-related policy areas was totaled, and then compared to that of all other FIs.