BOSTON – Nearly three-quarters of the 30 largest U.S. banks are offering remote deposit to their small business customers with more than 37% of community banks doing the same, according to a new report from Aite Group, LLC.

The report is based on a survey of 303 U.S. small businesses, defined as those businesses generating less than $10 million in annual revenue. Key drivers of small business adoption of remote deposit, including faster availability of funds, lower costs, greater time savings and later deadlines for deposits, are examined in the report. Remote deposit capture allows a user to scan checks and transmit the scanned images and/or ACH-data to a bank or credit union for posting and clearing.

Of particular note was of the small-businesses surveyed, only 19% use services provided by one of the "top five" banks–Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Wachovia and JP Morgan Chase. Meanwhile, a number of CUSOs have started offering remote deposit capture.