Pushpay's Customers are primarily religious organisations in the US faith sector which is made up of over 340,000 churches. The industry has historically operated with antiquated solutions that have not kept up with modern trends in technology. While the world is turning to mobile payments, cash and checks still make up 87% of all donations across the US faith sector. Some of Pushpay’s largest Customers process thousands of checks each week, placing a huge burden on the administration teams.

Pushpay created Check Deposit to improve the cumbersome traditional check recording process and enable Customers to digitally record checks. Checks are inserted into a check scanner which recognizes the written amount on the physical check and uses machine learning to identify and automatically attribute the donation to the giver’s account. Once a check is digitally recorded through Pushpay’s online administrative tools, the giver is emailed and prompted to begin interactions with their organization through the mobile tools that Pushpay offer. With Check Deposit, Pushpay is continuing to increase its value in being a complete end-to-end donor management system, providing a more comprehensive view of an organization’s total giving - both offline and online.

With finance administrators as our key audience, Pushpay set out to prototype, test and design an experience which would enable hundreds or even thousands of checks to be scanned, processed and reconciled with individual givers.
The early concepts of the Check Deposit project started out with sketchings on a whiteboard. With only three months to design and build the product, many people across Pushpay’s Product, Engineering and Design teams worked together closely from the start of the project. Daily standups were held to ensure everyone was aligned on deliverables. Following team collaboration, digital prototypes were produced and tested with real Customers to validate our approach and to provide feedback on UX.

Pushpay’s Check Deposit feature is disrupting the way that religious organizations in the US engage with their communities, and the way that users are able to interact with the organizations that they are associated with. Last Christmas, Amazon saw over 72% of its payments come through mobile - these consumers are no different to those who are attending church weekly yet the user experience within the faith sector is extremely behind the times.

Checks are a way of life for consumers in the US and are still one of the most commonly used methods of payment across all industries. Pushpay’s solution is unique as it solves a significant pain point for our Customers and allows them to efficiently manage the numerous check donations that they receive. Pushpay’s innovative Check Deposit is another step toward revolutionizing the way administrators are able to process donations through technology solutions that have world-class UX design and capabilities.

Innovation is sometimes about augmenting older technologies with newer ways of utilizing them. Check Deposit is a perfect example of this where historic methods of giving are combined with an ultra-modern, entirely digital user experience. The future of UX will continue to include advanced combinations of modern and digital elements.
Checks are an antiquated technology - but are here to stay for the time being. Rather than attempt to replace them, we created an experience for our customers which meant they could use modern technology to save significant amounts of time and minimize errors, while handling large volumes. Capturing all giving from non-digital methods, in addition to digital, gives customers a holistic view of their community’s generosity. For Pushpay’s end users, it means they are able to choose the giving option that best suits them, offering an inclusive experience. This, we believe, is the future of UX.