MICR Toner

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MICR characters are those strange little numbers at the bottom of a check, sometimes referred to as the MICR line. These characters contain your checks routing number, check number, and account number. These numbers are printed with the special MICR toner and font. They are the how all checks are automatically processed in the United States Banks today. This automated process is based on a technology called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition or MICR. MICR toner is used in the toner cartridges that fit your laser printer, but MICR toner is different from normal toner, therefore you need to buy a special cartridge. (Don’t worry, we have the MICR Toner Cartridge in stock if you have a HP, Lexmark, Dell, Canon or IBM laser printer!) MICR toner contains 50% to 60% iron oxide additives. When a laser printer uses this type of toner, the bank can use MICR readers to read the bank information from the bottom line of the check. The MICR readers can read the bank information because of the magnetic properties of the MICR Toner. The iron oxide produces these magnetic properties.

As a check travels through the check clearing system, it passes through machines called reader/sorters. As the check passes through the machine, the reader/sorter sends a magnetic charge to the check, which allows it to read the information contained within the MICR line very quickly. Checks pass through a reader/sorter at a speed of 70mph! The Federal Reserve and all banks require that checks be printed with MICR toner for ease of processing. If a negotiable document is printed with regular toner, the reader/sorter will reject the check, forcing a manual process for clearing the check. As a result the company who printed the check will be charged a fee per check rejected. This consequence is the reason why it is important that companies print checks with MICR toner.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is MICR?

MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. It is normally pronounced my-ker. With the improvement of computers, MICR technology was developed by the banking industry to use magnetic toner and special fonts so that check account numbers could be read and sorted by machine rather than by hand. MICR Toner is primarily used to print the account and bank route numbers at the bottom of checks. MICR toner is the primary component of MICR printing.

2. How does MICR Technology work?

MICR technology uses a special font and iron oxide additive to print the bank account information at the bottom of each check. The font consists of 14 characters consisting of numbers 0-9 and four special symbols. The bank information printed on the bottom line of the check is read and sorted by special magnetic or OCR readers.

3. What are MICR specifications?

MICR specifications include the physical characteristics of the MICR font characters and their proper placement on checks and documents. These guidelines ensure proper compliance so that the magnetic characters are correctly read by bank reader and sorter equipment.

4. How is MICR Toner different from Laser Toner?

MICR toner contains iron oxide. The iron oxide can be magnetized thus allowing magnetic readers to decode the bank account and routing numbers. MICR toner contains fifty percent or more iron oxide additives, which is required to meet ANSI readability standards and specifications.

5. Why print your own MICR checks?

Most users agree there are four reasons to print your own checks using MICR printing:

a. Printing checks using MICR lasers increases the level of security and decreases the probability of fraud.
b. The cost is less plus there is no inventory or need to secure preprinted checks.
c. You can create an entire check in one step. The MICR check includes payee data, logos, bank information, signatures and MICR bank codes at the bottom of the check.
d. It is much more flexible because a business can add, change or delete bank accounts as needed.

Note: If you operate a payroll service for multiple clients, you would not need separate checks for each company.

6. What equipment and materials are needed to print your own checks?

To print your own MICR checks you will need:

a. Computer
b. Software to print your checks
c. Laser printer
d. MICR Toner cartridge
e. Quality check stock paper

7. Can I use my standard printer and replace the toner with MICR toner?

Yes. MICR toner can be used in a standard HP, Lexmark, Dell, IBM, or Canon laser printer - However, micr toner is not available for Color LaserJet printers or inkjet printers.

8. Do I need to use MICR ink or toner when printing checks?

Yes! But first, let us clarify that we are talking about products that print checks on blank check/security paper and not printing on checks that already have the bank and company information preprinted on them.

The check processing system is based on the special numbers and symbols on the bottom of checks (MICR) to be recognized magnetically by devices called reader/sorters. Dot matrix, inkjet and many laser printer inks and toners have *no* magnetic properties. Some laser printer toners have limited magnetic properties, but well below what the standards call for, and without being formulated for passing through reader/sorters as many as 30 times (another requirement).

When a check cannot be processed automatically, the reader/sorter rejects it. The MICR information must then be manually rekeyed by someone on a special encoding device, a correction label applied to the bottom of your check, and then it is resubmitted. This is obviously an expensive process, and slows down the processing/clearing of your check.

Many people have had the misfortune of buying a package claiming to allow them to print their own checks on any printer. Some time later, their banks contact them to let them know that their checks are rejecting, and if they do not correct the problem then they will be subject to service charges (as much as $3 per check!).

There is a partial truth behind the claim of being able to print your own checks using any printer. Banks are increasingly adding optical recognition to their processing systems. However, in most cases the optical systems only assist the magnetic systems. The bigger problem is that even if your bank is able to read your non-magnetic MICR encoding, in most cases your bank is the last one to process your check. It is the banks of all the people that you write checks to that have to deal with the problem.

It works like this. If you write me a check, I deposit it at my bank. My bank’s reader/sorters try to process it automatically and if they can’t, they have to do it manually as described above. But even if my bank’s equipment is able to read it, it then goes to a Federal Reserve processing center. Finally, it ends up back at your bank for processing.

One exception may be the printing of bank drafts (eg. check-by-phone and check-by-fax systems that allow you to take check information from your customer over the phone and print a bank draft that you deposit directly at your bank). In this case, if your bank happens to be completely optical, then you may be able to print without MICR ink or toner. But you will have to check with your bank first.

So if you have an inkjet or dot matrix printer, we do not recommend printing your own checks. If you have a laser printer, MICR toner may be available for it, especially if it is made by Hewlett-Packard or IBM/Lexmark.

But there is one more caveat. Many of these products use very poor MICR fonts and/or their software do not properly position or space the MICR printing.

If you plan to print your own, work with your bank. Take them samples for quality testing before you start using checks you have printed yourself. If you have not already purchased the print-your-own package, ensure that you can obtain a refund if the samples fail your bank’s quality test.

9. Why can I not find MICR ink for my inkjet printer anywhere?

MICR has a very precise specification so that checks can be processed at a very high speed. One aspect that is critical for reliable MICR readability is consistency. Unfortunately, because inkjet inks are liquid, the materials that would be added to make them magnetizable settle to the bottom. As a result, inkjet is not a suitable technology for MICR printing.

10. Why is MICR toner only available for a few laser printers, mostly HP?

MICR toner, just like standard toner, has to be formulated for each printer model. As you have probably noticed, there are hundreds of models of laser printers. Since MICR is not a mainstream product, there has to be sufficient demand for a toner manufacturer to invest in formulating a MICR toner for a specific printer model. HP continues to have the largest market share (by far), and as a result MICR toner is available for most HP laser printers. Your next best bet is IBM/Lexmark and Xerox, for which there are several models that have MICR toner available. Other than that, you will have to shop around to see if a MICR toner is available for your printer. Note that even though your printer may not be listed, it may actually be using a printer engine that is the same as in a supported model.

11. Is MICR pronounced my-ker or micker?

Technically, MICR is an acronym and therefore should be spelled out (M,I,C,R).

However, we have it on good authority from one of the original developers of MICR that those in the know and from several industry leaders, that it is pronounced my-ker.