Ellen DeGeneres Stands Up For Mobile Banking

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres remembers a time when depositing a check presented a daunting task.

‘You had to sign the back of the check, then you had to fill out one of those deposit slips,” she recalled in a recent monologue on her talk show Ellen. “Then you had to add up all the numbers in your head, then you had to wait in line. Then you got to the front of the line and you had to make small talk with the bank teller, Barbara, about her daughter who’s in beauty school, which is really great but then you start thinking, ‘Well, how come your hair looks like that?’”

With those kinds of hurdles, it’s no surprise that DeGeneres counts herself as a fan of mobile check deposits.

“We’re now living literally in the future,” she said, marveling at the ease with which bank customers can deposit money into their accounts by using smartphones and tablets to snap pictures of checks.

“If only your phone could give you a lollipop,” DeGeneres said, “you’d never have to go to the bank ever again.”

The stand-up bit is indicative of the increasing popularity of mobile technology, according to a press release from Mitek, the leader in imaging software for mobile check deposit.

"The monologue indicates that mobile check deposit has gone mainstream," Mitek President and Chief Executive James DeBello said in the release.

What’s more, DeGeneres’ monologue was motivated by genuine enthusiasm for the technology rather than profit, according to Mitek’s Director of Marketing Ann Reichert.

“It was not paid which is why it’s so awesome!” Reichert said in an email.