1. A system for electronically depositing checks comprising: a scanner adapted to scan and generate images of checks to be deposited into a customer's financial account associated with a financial institution having an accounting system, the scanner being located remote from the financial institution, the scanner being adapted to accept and process a stack of checks, the scanner further adapted to extract character data from the images, the character data indicative of informational content of the checks including checking account numbers; and means for sending the images of the checks to a network associated with the financial institution, the means for sending the images allowing the images to be immediately available to the financial institution for settlement by the accounting system such that the customer's financial account receives an immediate credit in real-time for the deposited checks.