Bad UX: Schwab’s Check Deposit App for iPhone is Broken

Ed. Note: I wrote this when I was quite annoyed, and unfortunately I left out the larger context that this is actually one of the best checking accounts I’ve ever owned. It’s free, you gain interest, and all ATM fees get refunded at the end of the month.

Also, in the interest of Schwab, who I (rightfully) criticize here, they also reached out to me personally and I have a direct line of contact to help them fix this bug if I’m able to reproduce it in the future. Pretty good social media response.

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Just an FYI – if you’re considering Schwab because of their touted mobile phone check deposit system, might want to think again if you have an iPhone.

On my iPhone 4S, here is the experience I just had trying to deposit a check:

• Open the app
• Login to the app using my poor-by-mandate password
• Select Schwab Bank account, even though my Schwab investor account is inactive (an extra unnecessary click)
• Click Deposit Check
• Enter the amount of the check
• Click the button to take a picture of the front of the check
• line the check up with the blue box on the screen and then hit the camera button.
• See a preview image of the front of the check. But wait, it’s not the cropped version inside the blue box, but instead it’s the whole picture, which looks much smaller and off-center.
• Hit the Use Image button. Nothing happens.
• Wait, anticipating something to happen (i.e. data transfer). Nothing happens.
• Hit Cancel button. Nothing happens.
• Hit Cancel again. Nothing happens.
• Hit Retake Image button. Nothing happens.
• Hit buttons many times hoping for something to happen. Nothing happens.
• Hope there’s a back button. There is none.
• Hit the Home button and then force-quit the app from the app tray, just to be sure.
• Repeat steps 1-14, which ends in utter frustration.
• This time, try switching away from the app and switching back (instead of quitting)
• Repeat steps 1-14, with no success.
• Force quit the app again.
• This time, repeat steps 1-14 ignoring the blue box (thinking that the bug is maybe that it’s expecting the whole picture to be the check). No success there either.
• Repeat steps 1-14, attempting to scan the back of the check first, even though it’s the second button.
• IT WORKED!
• Click the button for the front of the check. it worked!
• Hit Review deposit
• Hit submit deposit.

26 Steps. But really, when you account for the fact that I was repeating sections of steps,I had to take around 78 steps just to do something as “intuitive” as submitting a check.

Now that I’ve figured out a way around their UX madness, I hope to be able to submit this to their support accounts and hopefully get some results.

</rant>