US check printing company Deluxe Corporation has introduced the Deluxe Mobile Checkbook, a new app that will let small business owners send and receive checks using their mobile device.

Available now for iOS, the app allows users to write, approve, sign, receive and deposit payments anywhere through a mobile device and serves as an extension to the company’s existing Deluxe eChecks platform, powered by VerifyValid, which enables them to make and receive check payments online utilizing a virtual lockbox and virtual remote deposit capture system.

“The way it works is the payer or the sender of the check, our customer, will issue a payment and the payment will be sent to the recipient or payee via email,” Chris Clausen, director of North American payments and transactional solutions, explained to NFC World+. “It’s important to understand that the check is not in the email.

“There is a link in the email for the recipient to retrieve the check; for security purposes, we don’t want to be passing sensitive information through email. What the payee or recipient does then is retrieve the check and they have a choice; either print the check using a printer and take it to a bank or their ATM, or use their mobile deposit capability that most banks offer.

“If their bank is participating, they can also take advantage of the remote deposit capability that is part of the system. So there are really a couple of different options for the recipient.”

“It’s also very quick and convenient,” Clausen continued. “The only thing [recipients] need to do is to be able to print the item; as long as they have access to a standard printer, they can make use of it. They just need an email address and a printer and that’s it. They don’t have to sign up to anything, there’s no cost to them, they don’t need to provide any sensitive data, they don’t have to provide their bank account or anything like that.

“If you think about paper checks today, there’s a lot of opportunity for interception and for fraud to take place. The typical paper check gets touched by eight people; the typical e-check gets touched by two people — the sender and the recipient, so you’re cutting out certain elements of risk.”

“The check has been a proven instrument for payment for quite a long time,” Clausen added. “It meets the needs of our business customers and, in terms of a payment mechanism, it has a lot of advantages that other payment mechanisms don’t offer.

“What the Deluxe Mobile Checkbook offers and allows us to do is bring the benefits of the check itself as a payment mechanism to the customer along with the advantages and benefits of an electronic payment solution, so it’s really marrying the best of both worlds.”