After introducing mobile check deposit technology in 2008, and mobile bill payment in 2012, San Diego’s Mitek Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MITK]]) is striking into some interesting (virtual) territory by expanding its core technology to enable customers to switch credit card accounts by simply snapping a picture of their statement and sending it to another bank.
The company’s intelligent system technology can extract enough data from the image, including customer name and account information, to transfer the credit card account to the new bank. Mitek licenses its technology to banks, which integrate its system with their own IT infrastructure and mobile banking services.
If you’re dissatisfied with the interest rate on your Visa card, for example, all you have to do is download the mobile balance transfer app from a rival bank, take a photo of your account statement and send it in (to the bank where you downloaded the app). Mitek’s “mobile photo balance transfer” technology enables the bank to extract the information it needs to transfer your account—that is, as long as you meet standard eligibility criteria.
After introducing the technology locally through the San Diego County Credit Union three months ago, Mitek is headed for the big time. The company says its mobile photo balance transfer technology will be available through a deal with Minneapolis, MN-based U.S. Bank—the nation’s sixth-largest bank, according to the 2013 Forbes list of America’s biggest banks.
As Mitek explains on its website, “With Mobile Photo Balance Transfer, consumers receive a lower interest rate and the financial institution acquires a new credit card customer…”
When I met recently with Mitek CEO Jim DeBello, he said the idea is to eliminate the paper forms that customers previously had to fill out if they wanted to transfer their credit card accounts, and to make it as “friction-free” as possible for consumers.
Perhaps more importantly, eliminating paperwork and direct-mail marketing to consumers (think of all those low-interest rate mailers you throw away) means that Mitek’s technology would enable banks to dramatically lower their marketing and customer acquisition costs. The San Diego company has been expanding the capabilities of its
