What is MICR?

MICR is an acronym that stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. Magnetic ink printing allows printed information to be read electronically.

A special type of font of characters called E-13B is used for character recognition. E-13B characters are commonly referred to as MICR characters.

The E-13B font consists of ten specially designed numbers (0 through 9) and four special symbols (Transit, Amount, On-Us and Dash) to make a total of 14 ‘MICR’ characters.

E-13B (MICR) characters are printed with ink or toner that contains iron oxide which is capable of being magnetized.

MICR reader machines transport documents containing E-13B magnetic ink characters past a magnet which causes the iron oxide particles in the printed characters to become magnetized.

The magnetized characters then pass under a magnetic read head and the magnetic field (flux pattern) created by the magnetized characters generates an electric current in the read head.

The strength and timing of this current allows the reader to decipher which character is being read.

All banks use reader/sorters that read the E-13B (MICR) characters magnetically.

MICR specifications are designed to ensure that E-13B (MICR) characters can be read by electronic machines called reader/sorters.

MICR specifications cover the requirements for the physical characteristics of MICR characters and the character’s placement on the document. Conformance to the MICR specifications helps ensure that the magnetic characters are capable of being read by a properly adjusted bank MICR reader/sorter.

The rapid automated processing of checks within the banks among financial institutions depends upon the quality of the MICR line.

Both the accuracy of the MICR data and the quality of the MICR printing are crucial.

The primary guide to the proper contents of the MICR line should be provided by the Bank Specification Sheet.

The location of the MICR line for (your) paying bank is detailed on this Bank MICR specification sheet.

I would highly recommend that you obtain a copy of the specification sheet from your paying bank to ensure that the MICR line is set up properly. This ‘sheet’ can be obtained from your bank, simply ask them for a copy and have them detail the MICR line information for your account on this ‘sheet’.

The MICR clear band area is measured 5/8ths inch from the bottom of the check and runs the full length of the check.

No other magnetic printing may appear in the 5/8ths inch MICR clear band area.

This is especially important when printing from a non-impact (laser) printer, since all the variable information including but not limited to the MICR characters, contain magnetic properties.

And since a bank reader/sorter reads the entire 5/8ths inch clear band area, it would also read any other magnetic information contained in that area, and this would cause items to reject due to the interference of other magnetic properties causing the MICR characters to become unreadable.

It has been my experience that most rejects that occur when printing with a non-impact printer are actually due to encroachment of other magnetic printing in the clear band area.

As an example, digitized signatures, memo fields, five line addresses, borders, etc., must be printed so they do not encroach into the upper 5/8ths inch read band.

You could use a basic ruler and measure from the bottom of the check upwards 5/8ths of an inch and draw a horizontal line the full length of the check. No other printing from the laser printer should fall within this area.

You could also use a MICR position and layout gauge, which is available at a minimal cost. This MICR gauge is a useful tool which would assist in the alignment of the MICR characters and also to check for encroachment.

Also offered Free of charge, would be a document evaluation performed by The United States Document Testing Center, which is a MICR document testing facility who performs MICR testing on our behalf.

Document evaluation tests can be performed in an expeditious manner by simply supplying a set of test samples that have been marked ‘voided’ or ‘test samples’ and can be sent directly to the testing laboratory with results reported within the same day of receipt of test samples.

The bank should report back to the customer their findings with the fault condition noted so it can be corrected and items would then be acceptable.

However, it has been my experience that the bank quality control departments are not always correct in their assumptions of what is causing the items to fail.

I would recommend that if it is unclear as to why items are failing, that additional samples be sent to the testing facility noted above for further analysis, since this testing facility has been performing document testing services since 1980 to the MICR industry and are quite qualified to make determinations as the cause of failure and more importantly, the ability to give instructions to correct an fault conditions.

Again, as with pervious explanation, it would be highly recommended that samples be sent to the testing laboratory for evaluation.

There are so many intricacies associated with the MICR specifications, that it would be unrealistic to expect the customer to become an expert in this field. That is why we have contracted with an association that has this experience and expertise and are qualified to understand all the aspects of MICR printing, and be able to relate back to the customer in a manner that is easily understandable.

Most customers will never have any problems with printing their checks. But if there is ever a problem, we have the ability to address the situation and assist the customer with making corrections to ensure their MICR checks are acceptable.

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