The free app offered by Paypal has been handy for moving money around on the go. It allows for all of the normal Paypal actions of sending and recieving money via email address with the addition of ‘bump to pay’ if your near another iPhone owner you owe some bucks to.

In the latest update, Paypal has added the ability to deposit checks in your account via taking a picture of the check. To get started, go to the ‘tools’ area of the app (accept their agreement), take a picture of the front and back of the check, then enter the amount.

The service “may be handled by a third party bank” can take up to six days to clear the check into your account. You can return to the ‘tools’ area later in the app to see the info regarding the check deposit. I have deposited a check last night and will report if/when the funds show up in my acct.

The Paypal app for depositing checks is not the first to the iPhone with the ability. It is the first to deposit into your Paypal account, but if you have an account at Chase, the QuickDeposit service has been available in the free Chase Mobile app for a while. I don’t have a Chase account so I can go into the particulars of how well it works but a quick search has found many folks enjoying the added capabilities on their iPhone.