Camera and check deposits problem...

[bentzy klein]

The trick to making deposits with the new Samsung Galaxy S5 is to raise the phone about 10" for the check to look a bit smaller and it should work. I had this problem with Bank of America and it work fine by me with lifting the phone up.

They say that the reason for the image not being recognized is because the phone is automatically cropping the photo and it doesn't appear as good on the Bank server. I've spoken to many Bank's and they told me that they have this problem with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and are working on an update.

 

[jhulswit]

I have a Note4 and a Galaxy S5 and both take amazing clear pictures however, I'm having hell of a time with the PNC Check Deposit
function as the camera gets this lousy blurry image. After fumbling around with the 'Display' settings, I found that switching the 'Screen Mode' to AMOLED cinema makes the damn camera finally focus. You have to wait a second, but it will finally focus clearly enough to take the snapshot.
I was able to deposit my check!

 

[jhulswit]

After fumbling around with the 'Display' settings, I found that switching the 'Screen Mode' to AMOLED cinema makes the damn camera finally focus.

 

[sleerf]

Well, I'm on my 3rd galaxy that has this problem. The front side of the check is rarely a problem. The back side actually focuses and then DE-focuses right as it takes the pic. I had this problem on my S4, S5, and now a Note 4. I have 3 different bank accounts I do this with - Bank of America, US Bank, and First Financial (a small regional bank). I'm a photographer by trade so I really do know how to use the camera and it's not user error. It's not getting the edge of the check outside the box. It's not uneven lighting. I've even gone as far as using a ring-light just to test it.

I don't know what it is but I do know that it's BIZARRE. I have found that at least for the back of the checks, the result is better if you put the endorsement on the button end of the camera and tilt the camera slightly so that the endorsement is slightly further away than the other end.

The phones use contrast detection for AF and when all you have is an endorsement on the back and everything else is faint, you would think it would focus really well. My only working hypothesis is that the watermarking may cause an aliasing issue at the resolution of these cameras. I know the resolution on the S4, Sr, and note are pretty high but my S3 was only 8MP and didn't have the problem. I'd be curious as to whether or not some of the phones that don't have this problem either have lower resolution or have some sort of low-pass AA filter built in. I might experiment with this if I have the time.
I'm sure the checks themselves play a part as well. If my hypothesis is right, then the checks that focus better have either less watermarking, patterns that aren't prone to aliasing, or designs on them that outweigh the aliasing.

 

[Rukbat]

Good explanation from the photographic viewpoint. I just use a contrasting background to make the check itself high-contrast, and it seems to focus fine. (I have the camera app I use - FV5 - set to spot focus, so maybe the camera stays in that mode when the check deposit app runs? I don't know. But I prefer choosing what to focus on and not let the camera decide. (I've been doing that since the days I only had a Voigtlander Brilliant TLR.)

 

[Sheila Rodgers]

I just upgraded, also, to a S5 and I cannot remote capture when making a deposit, it literally exits me out of the banking app. I had the S4 before, and it worked perfectly. Also, if I am on EBay selling an item, and I am trying to post pictures, it will only let me upload one. Everytime I click the next spot to place a picture, it overrides the previous picture and posts it in its place. The other picture goes to draft. It will not let me post but one picture, but it does not kick me out of the app like it does on the banking website. I can use my Samsung Note tablet and it works fine in both instances. So what is wrong?

 

[eastclif]

I have a Note 3, and have a problem with the RBC app. It takes a picture fine, but when I choose "use this photo" , the app just shuts down. After uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting phone etc, still happened. Called RBC, they said it's a known issue with some phones, something to with the way the app converts the photo into the format it uses to send to bank. They said the next upgrade, in a week or two, should resolve the problem. Also told me that RBC wallet does not (and never will) work with Note 3, due to incompatible hardware of the phone.

 

[lackofcreativeusernamevision]

I too have this problem. I bought a Galaxy Tab E Lite from Wally World about a week ago for the express purpose of making eDeposits to NFCU. Since, in their infinite wisdom they made iOS 7 obsolete and rendered my iPhone 4 useless as they're concerned, I bought this tab as it's allot cheaper than buying a new/used iPhone 5.

So now I get a check to deposit. I open the app and get to where I have to snap a pic…and the screen is black! No image, just black space even though the camera sidebar is active. Even snapping a pic produces a blank black image.

Samsung says it's the developers fault (NFCU), but NFCU tells me I'm the first user to make this complaint(!), and still no answers. All permissions are enabled for the app to use the camera function. I uninstalled and reinstalled twice to no avail. And after an hour and a half on hold with samsung before speaking Spanglish to a tech with less Linux knowledge than myself, iPad is looking mighty good right now, albeit absurdly expensive.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Gregory Arthur]

S5, citibank.. I've NEVER been able to utilize mobile check deposit. I've deleted everything from my phone, installed updates ad nauseum. Citibank tech support has been aware and they have NOT resolved the issue, now going on TWO years, unable to use their app to deposit checks. It focuses, you hear the camera sound that it's taking a picture, and the app simply crashes/closes, back to the main screen I go as if the app had never been opened...

 

[Kimmycan]

Hello Everyone ! I had the same frustrating problem and Discovered the solution. I have a floor lamp with a brown lampshade. I turn on the ceiling light and also place the check under the turned on brown lampshade. Somehow the "orangey glow" makes the camera focus. It worked !! Very clear and sharp. Now, my bank accepts it instantly. Yaye ! Good luck to all !

 

[mpower9]

After fumbling around with the 'Display' settings, I found that switching the 'Screen Mode' to AMOLED cinema makes the damn camera finally focus.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I was going crazy trying to deposit checks with my brand new Galaxy s7 edge using the new app from my credit union. (In the past I never had any problem, using my old Note 2 with the old app.) The new combination simply wouldn't focus.

Although what you said did not make any sense at all (did not see what connection the display setting for what I see has to do with what the camera sees), I tried your suggestion. Bingo! The picture of the check could not have been sharper and the app swallowed it without complaint.

Again, thank you for posting your suggestion. It worked!

 

[equalunique]

After fumbling around with the 'Display' settings, I found that switching the 'Screen Mode' to AMOLED cinema makes the damn camera finally focus.

This worked for us as well! On a Moto X.

 

[Joseph Edes]

Samsung Galaxy Luna having trouble depositing check to Navy Federal Credit Union. So here is what I did that worked after 5 failed attempts using the normal process. I put a magnifying glass over the phone lens and focused by moving the camera until a clearer image appeared, especially the routing and account numbers. Clicked the camera, reviewed the result, which was much better, and submitted the deposit. It worked!! Magnifying glass was held about 1/2 inch from phone lens.

 

[Ben Auxier]

I came across this thread when I was having the same problem with my Galaxy Note 9 and the CommunityAmerica app. What finally worked was changing the screen resolution. So if you're still having trouble and your phone allows you to change your resolution settings, play with those for a while. By default I have mine at the lowest res in order to save battery. Raising it fixed the issue.

 

[ecoleye]

I came across this thread when I was having the same problem with my Galaxy Note 9 and the CommunityAmerica app. What finally worked was changing the screen resolution. So if you're still having trouble and your phone allows you to change your resolution settings, play with those for a while. By default I have mine at the lowest res in order to save battery. Raising it fixed the issue.

You sir... WIN the gold star for the day! Thank you!

This issue has infuriated me for years with the Chase app! Now that I think about it, it's given me fits since I first made the jump to Samsung with my S7 Edge.

For anyone with a Note 8 that ends up here, this is the process that finally solved it for me:

1. Settings > Display > Screen Resolution > change to FHD+ (2220x1080)
2. Settings > Developer Options > Minimum Width > 411 dp (this is the default setting; I keep mine at 512 dp)*
3. Force Stop Chase App
4. Clear Chase app cache
5. Reboot phone
6. Profit!

*I can't confirm that the minimum width setting had anything to do with the fix, because I first tried adjusting resolution to the lowest setting (sometimes my reading comprehension isn't so good), and when this didn't work, I changed the dpi. When that didn't work, I went back to screen resolution and chose the middle option (FHD+) along with the other steps listed above... and SUCCESS!

 

[pixel2a]

I went to the trouble of creating an account just to let others know I got around this issue. Basically what was happening was, in my banking app the first photo of a check for deposit was fine. The second wouldn't work and looked elongated and in the wrong orientation. What I found WORKED without too much fuss and bother was to clear the cache in the camera app BETWEEN taking each photo. No messing around with settings etc.

I can't believe that this has been an ongoing issue for so long without a permanent fix!

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central, and thanks for the tip! Although I'm not sure this will work in every instance (since it may also depend on the particular bank app's coding), it's certainly worth a try for anyone who has this type of problem.