Safe Courier makes it simple to share sensitive financial documents from a smartphone, securely and in seconds
Technology developed by Xerox (NYSE: XRX) will help customers simply and securely transmit financial data – including loan, credit card applications or other financial documents containing sensitive personal financial information -- right from a smartphone.
Now anyone with a supported mobile device and web access can take a picture of a document and securely send it to a desired recipient in seconds. Running on the latest iPhones, iPads and Android phones, Safe Courier makes it possible for users to securely submit paperwork on the spot. The entire process takes seconds.
"We've all used our smartphones to take a quick photo of documents, white-board meeting notes or even a snapshot of our child's science fair display to record and share," said Raja Bala, principal imaging scientist at the Xerox Research Center Webster, and lead scientist who developed the technology. "Safe Courier makes it just as easy to submit a loan application using your phone as it is to post a photo online."
Unlike mobile check capture/deposit applications that banks currently offer, Safe Courier expands the capabilities to enable our clients to scan and process a wide variety of documents ranging from loan applications and a multitude of forms from money transfer requests, tax documents or account applications.
"Checks are small structured documents that are uniform in size and format and much easier to scan and process," said Bala. "As smart phones become equipped with higher resolution cameras, they are capable of capturing, processing and --in the future – recognizing a wide variety of complex documents including a variety of formats. Safe Courier puts the power of complex state-of-the-art imaging algorithms and software to work enabling any customer, anywhere to submit any type of personal information simply, securely and quickly."
Novel imaging technology developed by Xerox enables users to take high quality photos of multipage documents without even pressing a button. The app simply waits for the user to hold the smartphone camera with a steady hand in front of the document, and knows when to automatically capture the photo at the right moment. Additional technology behind the scenes automatically crops and cleans up captured pages, and stitches them together into a crisp and clear document image for transmission. At the same time a built-in proprietary secure transfer system safely delivers it to its intended recipient. Numerous delivery options can be selected and users automatically receive receipt confirmation or can check on delivery status. A simple user interface walks users through the process.
Designed to help banks, brokerage firms and other financial institutions simplify how their customers open up a new account, apply for a mortgage or update sensitive financial information – Safe Courier can be easily integrated into their existing workflows. For example, Safe Courier simplifies and helps expedite the mortgage application process by providing financial institutions the ability to send to the mortgage applicant a text message or email containing a link to request specific additional documents at any point in the process. The link contains the details, so all the customer has to do is click on the link, take the picture and send.
Safe Courier security features ensure documents are kept private and safe. Documents are always sent over secure transmission channels. The service can be configured to delete files from the mobile device upon successful transmission.
"Even with today's rise of mobile banking applications, the most common ways consumers provide documents containing sensitive information to their financial institutions is via a fax machine, scan to email, or express delivery," said Mark Johnston, chief innovation officer, Financial Services Group at Xerox. "Safe Courier provides a secure alternative to those options while offering customers greater mobile convenience."
The system can be implemented as is or custom branded and can easily be integrated into a financial institution's current application workflow providing a new secure mobile service for customers. Safe Courier can also be used to support safe document transfers in other industries including education, legal, healthcare, insurance and government.
