What kind of evaluation process (if any) should a bank use to determine if they will, or will not, provide Remote Deposit to a customer/prospect?

As is the case with many of the questions we field in this emerging industry, the answer begins with an "It depends..."

This response in not so much our opinion, but more a report of what we have seen in the industry, and discussed with literally dozens of banks.

It is good, Mike, that you're asking the question. We've seen many a bank jump into the RDC Marketplace without asking - which (in our opinion) might be a mistake.

Whether or not a bank has an official evaluation process depends primarily upon that bank's appetite for risk. There can be substantial risks in offering clients an RDC service, risks which even the strictest client legal agreement would likely not protect you against. If a corporate RDC user were to deliberately commit fraud, for example, by depositing the images with your organization, then the originals with another bank, or depositing fraudulent items and making off with the money, you're stuck with the losses and potentially the consequential damages.

In addition to the typical KYC procedures which every bank should (have to) follow, some of the steps some banks have taken to "qualify" which clients the offer an RDC Service to include:
Client Business Case - Your Bank has limited resources and limited time to implement clients, so the question is, which clients first? If your bank is in the business of generating profits (or at least trying to) clients with the best business case would likely be selected and prioritized.
Creditworthiness - We've seen many banks offer RDC only to those clients with whom they already have, or are willing to have, a credit relationship with.
Competitive Pressures - An increasing number of banks are rolling out RDC services for one simple reason: Offer an RDC service or lose current clients. Therefore, client selection is simple- offer the service to current clients prioritized by the size of the relationship, the risk of losing the relationship, or some combination of both.
Location - Believe it or not, some banks are staying primarily inside their footprint. Granted, the banks taking this approach pride themselves on being the local community bank, but it is true. Another consideration: Service & support. If you're going to have clients all over the USA or even the world, how are you going to provide service & support? Geography and time zones can create some substantial headaches.
Strategy- Some banks select their RDC clients based upon their strategy. A defensive strategy would dictate offering RDC to current customers. A predatory strategy would dictate targeting clients of one of your competitors (ideally one which does not offer RDC). Other strategies we've heard of include targeting a specific market segment or industry.
A New Evaluation Process - We've heard of a few banks - very few - who have created a new type of evaluation process. One of these banks is qualifying clients in a similar manner to their ACH qualification process. Another bank is requiring certain clients to keep a peg balance in their account. I'm sure there are additional approaches out there.

This, I believe is a fairly complete overview of what we've seen in the industry. If there are others who would be kind enough to share their insights, it would be greatly appreciated.

-JTL