MICR

MICR is the short form for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition and as defined as the common machine language specification for the paper-based payment transfer system. It consists of magnetic ink printed characters of a special design which can be recognized by high speed magnetic recognition equipment. This series of readable characters provides the receiving party with information needed for processing the check including: check number, bank routing number, checking account number and in some cases the amount of the check. MICR characters are printed in the form of either an E-13B or CMC-7 Font. Each font series is made up of a series of numbers and symbols specifically designed for readability on check sorting machines which read at extremely high rates of speed. The symbols provide a beginning and ending point for each group of numbers allowing the machine to quickly determine what each series of number signifies. Line placement, character placement, skew and quality are several critical components of printing MICR; the line must be precisely positioned in the MICR Clear Band area. To create consistency in the check clearing process it is critical that each character is readable and that the printing methods are reliable.The figure shown above is a MICR devices.