Chase has rolled out improvements to the company’s Jot app that helps Ink Classic, Ink Cash, Ink Bold and Ink Plus cardholders record and track their expenses. The app is available for iPhone and Android devices.

“The strategy behind adding the receipt capture capability is part of Ink from Chase’s overall effort to help small business owners stay out of the back office and focus on growing their business,” said Rob Tacey, spokesman for Chase, New York.

“With the receipt capture feature, customers simply take a photo of a receipt with their mobile device camera and attach it to purchases made with an Ink card,” he said.

How it works
The Chase Jot app is synced up with a user’s online banking account.

When a consumer makes a purchase with their Ink card, they are sent a push notification that reminds them to tag their purchase using the app.

From there, consumers can snap a picture of their receipts to help track their expenses. Each receipt can also be customized with tags that help card members identify their purchases.

The tags and photos are then added to a consumer’s online bank statement at https://www.chase.com.

Consumers can then download and print receipts to create reports with accounting software, such as Excel and QuickBooks.

Additionally, the app lets employees monitor their employee’s transactions and readjust an Ink card’s spending limit.

Chase is not the only financial institution that has been ramping up its app efforts with receipt deposit.

For example, American Express recently launched a similar app feature for its Open business members (see story).

As mobile banking adoption continues to grow, consumers increasingly want to complete complex transactions via their mobile device.

In this case, adding a camera feature to the Chase app is a natural extension of a built-in feature native to mobile that helps solve a pain point that business owners often have with managing their finances.

Bank on mobile
Chase has continuously relied on mobile in the past to help streamline banking for its users.

For example, Javelin Strategy & Research named Chase a leader in the mobile space last year for its comprehensive banking strategy (see story).

Additionally, the company implemented QR codes that are printed on banking statements at the end of last year to bolster app downloads (see story).

“Mobile allows Chase customers to access their accounts at anytime from anywhere,” Mr. Tacey said.

“This is especially important for small business customers, as we know they are often on the go,” he said. “In fact, more than half of Jot users are accessing the application via the mobile app.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York