I tried this - they scanned my mail and it had a check in it. The scan looked crystal clear to me, I printed it out and tried a dozen times and could not get my deposit-by-camera to work with the printout. I don't know what fine email was required, but I couldn't do it even though my printout looked perfect.

Had them mail the check to me and it worked instantly. Too bad, but maybe good for security that you couldn't easily just deposit a picture.

I have a couple of questions about Virtual Post Mail:
1. Someone posted and said a credit card application got rejected because of a "mail center" address. How do you work around this? We will be moving around the US and Europe but I still want to go after new card bonuses.
2. What do they do with obvious junk mail like local plumber fliers, realtor fliers, letters addressed to occupant? I realize I can choose what to scan but does junk count in the mail limits?
3. I'm from CA and I need a CA address for health insurance purposes.Has anyone had any problems with using the Virtual Post Mail address for something like that?

Bohemiana,

Regarding your questions:

1) I use my "Mailbox Forwarding" address for a few credit cards without any problems so far. Two of those cards were pre-existing cards when I changed to the new address. In one case I successfully applied for a new card.

2) I don't get any junk mail to the Mailbox Forwarding address. Not sure if the company filters it out, or junk mail senders simply are not sending any to that address.

3) No experience here.

Hope that helps.

I've done scan-print-mobile app deposit quite a few times. Some banks have better apps than others, but as long as you can get the app to recognize the MICR codes at the bottom of the check it usually works. Quite often they detect the MICR codes by location from the bottom edge of the check, and you may need to cut the check from the printout so that it has the right dimensions/shape.

I have Traveling Mailbox which uses a UPS Store address and both Amex and BOA refuse to accept it as a physical mailing address. I was even able to get both Amex and BOA to override the system and a few days later they both sent mailed letters saying that I needed a physical address and PMBs were prohibited. All other banks and my drivers license have all been changed to the new address. The whole reason I did this was so that friends and family wouldn't have to deal with our mail and everything could be sent to a single address. Even USPS address change worked no problem.

Suggestions?

Have you tried any other mail service providers which have "real street addresses", rather than a UPS Store address? There are several such service providers, of which Mailbox Forwarding is the one I've been satisfied with.

Changing providers to find one that works with all of our 40-50+ accounts isn't really an option. The one we use also has addresses at a biz location with suite numbers but also had #XX-XXX and I thought the dash would cause trouble. Maybe not though.

WSJ article recommends Traveling Mailbox. It would be great to have a wiki to price out these options though I gather pricing is always in flux.

For those who plan to reside outside the USA, the physical mail element seems like less of an issue now thanks to online bill payment and statements - except for those instances when you need to replace physical credit & ATM cards etc. The bigger hassle is to avoid having US financial institutions close your accounts as many don't want to deal with overseas clients due to onerous AML and banking regs. Even more reason to open an overseas account in a safe jurisdiction.

I have been using Mailbox Forwarding for 7-8 years now. No hiccups in the address being accepted by the likes of Chase, BofA, Fidelity, etc. If actual paper needs to be forwarded, the charges are quite reasonable as well (I live in London, use USPS First Class to forward from Mailbox's Grandville MI address).

How much do you pay to London? I always do tracking so I know when something's delivered.

It has been awhile for this thread, but I hire a young woman as a personal assistant. She gets my mail, scans real mail, tosses junks and shreds stuff I don't like. Have been using her for about 5 years. found her on personal ad site. She had great recs from people I know. That is all she does

I posted on this thread last year but now we will only be gone 4 months of the year in Europe, not an entire year. I think we will look for a personal assistant/neighbor we trust to get our mail every two weeks and send photos of things he/she thinks look important. I don't want to change address for just 4 months. I need to get serious about finding a solution because we leave in May.

Will she do it for the same or less than the $20/mo I pay for VPM?

I pay USPS rates plus a small handling charge. Typical delivery time is 4-5 days.