Summary Box: Cell phone apps let you bank money without trips to the bank or deposit slips

Summary Box: Cell phone apps for check deposits

BANKING BY PHONE: Soon, you might not even have to visit a bank or an ATM to deposit a check. You’ll simply snap a couple of photos of it with your cell phone.

COMING THIS YEAR: Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are among the banks planning to release mobile applications.

SECURITY HURDLES: The technology, known as remote deposit capture, adds a new wrinkle to concerns about fraud and the privacy of financial data. But the banks and the technology companies helping them say they have largely overcome these concerns.