What Is the MICR Line on a Check?
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition or MICR (often pronounced micker) is a process used by banks to make the processing of paper checks easier for both the bank and the customer. MICR characters are most often found on the bottom of paper checks in the form of numbers. These numbers are the MICR line, and are used by banks to glean information about individual checks.
Other People Are Reading
-
Identification
-
When you look at an MICR line on a check, it can seem like a bunch of nonsensical numbers and symbols at first. But these numbers serve an important purpose in the identification and reading of a check. Most checks contain three main types of information in the MICR line.
The first set of numbers in the MICR line are surrounded by a symbol that looks something like this: |:. This first set of numbers is called the routing number. The routing number is nine digits long and is made up of three parts. The first four numbers are the Federal Reserve Routing Symbol--these numbers tell which branch of the Federal Reserve the check has come from. The next four numbers identify which bank the check has been issued by. The last number is the check digit.
The second set of numbers in the MICR line is your individual account number. Your account number is preceded and/or followed by a symbol that looks something like this: ||.. There is no uniform amount of digits for the account number; it may be five digits or it may be ten. The amount of digits depends on how many individual accounts your bank has.
The last set of numbers in the MICR line is the check number. This number denotes which check from your checkbook you are using. The check number is usually preceded by a 0 and matches the number found in the upper-right hand corner of the check.
The numbers on the MICR line are usually in the above order when read from left to right, but sometimes they may be switched around depending on the bank, so be aware of that when you are using a check.
History
-
The Stanford Research Institute first introduced the process of using the MICR line to the American Banker's Association in 1956. Up until that point, there was no universal banking standard for tracking checks. Often, individual banks would have their own system completely different from other banks, which created confusion when a check from one bank was being deposited into an account at a different bank.
In 1961, the Stanford Research Institute received a patent for the invention of the MICR line, and by the middle of the 1960s the use of the line on checks was universal in American banks. -
Features
-
Since MICR lines are vital tools for banks and their customers, the lines are not simply printed on a check in the same way you might print something out at your home. MICR toners are used to print the MICR lines on the check. The ink is magnetized through an iron oxide compound contained in all MICR toners.
Function
-
In order to read the MICR line, a bank's reader/sorter machine will pick up the magnetized ink and activate it in the machine's electromagnetic field. Once the ink is activated, the machine can then read the MICR line on the check and validate it. Once the check is validated, it can then be deposited into or withdrawn from a bank account.
Considerations
-
MICR lines are usually printed using the E-13B or CMC-7 fonts. These are unique fonts that are used specifically for MICR lines in part to help avoid check fraud and also to help reader/sorter machines identify the MICR line.
MICR toners and printers are not delegated to the banking field only. Many companies and individuals choose to print their own checks to cut down on costs or to add some originality to their checks. This in-house method of check printing produces checks in essentially the same way a bank produces its checks.
-
