Optical Character Recognition – How Image to Text Impacts the Banking and Payment Industries

Optical Character Recognition, otherwise known as OCR, is another reminder that we are in the 21st century. While it is not quite a “Roombas taking over the world” level of technology, could you have imagined doing this over twenty years ago? With this in mind, how does image-to-text impact the banking industry?

Image-to-text primarily acts as a method to scan information. Rather than typing or copying information from a handwritten document, OCR allows you to check in the paper. This process saves you time as a convenience measure using your smartphone camera or a PDF file.

The rest of this article will delve into how you can use this to your advantage. We will also address some of the concerns associated with OCR-ing sensitive documents.

How OCR-ing Can Help Make Your Life Easier

OCR-ing, the process of taking images and scanning them into readable text, can take a low-level function out of your hands. As humans continue to create technology to make our lives easier, we can focus on areas of greater importance. OCR-ing makes our lives easier by taking away mindless, repetitive tasks.

Here is a list of examples:

• They allow you to scan banking information for your electronic files.
• You can use them to enter your card information to make an online payment.
• You can copy down text from image extraction, which helps you identify the content.
• It allows you to create a more practical search database by searching for text extracted from an image.

An OCR platform will allow you to find an exact image by searching for text that your tool can recognize in its current form. That means if you have a recipe book or like to keep electronic files, you have a much easier way to find it.

How Has OCR Changed Over Time?

When finding a specific PDF image, OCR is excellent. However, its use as a software tool for quickly converting information remains the same. However, its form has changed immensely, as you can find the first proper OCR tool in the 1950s.

GISMO, the first OCR system of its time, was invented by David Hammond Shepard, a cryptanalyst of the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA, eventually became the NSA). If you’ve been around long enough to fill out a punch card, you’ve technically used OCR. Sorry if this makes you feel old.

The US Postal Service (USPS) is also familiar with OCR, as they have been using it in mail sorting since the 1960s. It also has a history with the British General Post Office (GPO) to plan a banking system called the National Giro, which revolutionized UK bill payments.

Image to Text: OCR in its Current Form

You are likely most familiar with OCR if you have a phone new enough to use Google Lens. Google Lens is a powerful online tool that uses your smartphone camera to perform a reverse image search.

It would be best if you kept it steady enough to avoid taking a low-resolution image. Image recognition software is far easier to manage with good image resolution!

Data capture and automation technologies are also a heavy part of the banking process. Automated teller machines (ATMs) are of the most widespread versions of OCR. If you’ve ever taken a picture of a check and uploaded it online, that’s OCR in action.

Any form you fill out at a bank can be scanned in and run through an OCR machine. This process prevents them from needing to waste time reading your document. If you’ve ever been asked to print your name on forms, OCR might be the reason behind it.

OCR is also part of the banking process of applying for a loan. They use past merchant statements to gauge your payment history. However, there are some concerns people have regarding this.

People’s Concerns Regarding OCR Document Scanning

When it comes to OCR, people have two major concerns:

• The security of information used
• The accuracy of data used

The Security of Your Information Using Image to Text

The first area, security of information, depends heavily on the online service you use. Many third-party organizations have a clause allowing them to use your information to sell your data. This practice can be incredibly concerning if you use these services to scan bank statements.

Always check the chops behind the organization before giving them anything. See if they have a privacy policy that indicates they will not use your data.

Banking institutions are subject to high-level security requirements both on the physical and digital scale. Given that it is a heavily regulated industry, they have to keep your data safe and not resell it.

The Accuracy of Your Information Using Image to Text 

When putting an image into machine learning platforms, there’s bound to be some errors. Anytime you extract image data, you can mix up a 1 with an “I” or a 0 with an “O.” That’s why you should always have some part of your process be manual when processing an image.

When sorting through the image data, your chosen system might be wondering why you aren’t looking for 1O chicken breasts in your recipes instead of 10. While there are some ways to work around ambiguous text, many OCR systems are still imperfect.

Anytime you scan a critical, official document, be sure to account for a human eye to ensure everything is working. There are several AI editing platforms out there that might help as well, be sure you give it a final check with your eyesight.

Final Thoughts

We cannot shy away from the future growth of technology. As OCR systems continue to grow into new and exciting fields, it will be exciting to see how they can make us even more efficient and speed up processes that allow you to devote time to other parts of your business. Let FirsTech help get you back to what you do best. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.