What is MICR?

MICR, an acronym for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, is the special set of characters and symbols that appear at the bottom of checks and other financial documents. MICR came about in the early the 1950's when banks wanted to automate the check processing of clearing cancelled checks. In the early days of MICR use, the symbols and characters were printed with special ink that contained iron oxide particles, and these particles were what were magnetized when the checks were processed at banks. Today, checks can have the MICR line printed with ink, encoding from a mylar-coated ribbon or magnetic toner. The symbols and characters that appear on the bottom of the check are referred to by their special font designation E-13B. This E-13B font is used throughout most of the world's banks. While we use the more common E-13B font here in the United States and Canada, there are a handful of countries in the world recognizing a different font, which is known as CMC-7.

What is MICR Check Printing?

This is the process of printing an entire check with all of the fixed and variable information, plus bank numbering appearing on the completed check. Traditional check printing only prints the variable information from your financial accounting software.

How Can We Determine if A MICR Check Program Exists for Our Accounting Software?

A few financial accounting software programs do have dedicated programs available to help in your decision process and we can direct you to the source for those programs. If a dedicated MICR program does not exist for your accounting software, we can offer a Windows-based MICR check printing solution that provides all of the capabilities you will need to have peace of mind as well as a secure MICR check printing environment. In addition to all of the features associated with MICR check printing, one of the most sought after features of this program are Positive Pay (a file is generated at the end of the check printing process and sent to your bank notifying them of the checks written, the dollar amount and which account(s) were used. The bank accepts the responsibility to cash only those checks that are matched to the Positive Pay file previously sent), multi-level password protection, encryption of signatures with activation and deactivation of the signatures, customizable operator and supervisory control privileges, hard-lock key for physical security and full reporting features.

What Equipment and Supplies Will I Need To Print MICR Checks?

You will need access to the MICR font E-13B. One of the easiest means of accessing this font is to use a MICR check printing software program that works in conjunction with your financial accounting software. You will also need a laser printer, a supply of security check stock that contains multiple document security features and a MICR toner cartridge that is designed to work with your make and model of laser printer.

Can The MICR Toner Cartridge Be Recycled?

Yes, the MICR toner cartridge can be recycled just like any other toner cartridge. Our MICR toner manufacturer is now offering to take the cartridges back for recycling. While a few parts from the used cartridge can be reclaimed, anything not reclaimed for use in another new cartridge will be recycled to help protect our environment.

Are There MICR InkJet Cartridges?

No, because one of the main components of MICR is the iron oxide particles and these particles are too large to be suspended in the ink of an inkjet cartridge. There have been attempts to perfect the process, but the results are lacking due to the clogging of the inkjet nozzles by the iron oxide particles and the random placement of extraneous droplets from the splatter caused by the heavier ink sprayed out of the inkjet nozzle, which can be picked by your bank's MICR reading and scanning equipment. Picking up these droplets will cause reading errors during the check processing at the bank.

What Makes Security Check Stock So Special?

Because check fraud is now a 14 billion dollar problem and growing, paper manufacturers have devised methods of producing security check papers with overt features (those features you can see) and covert features (those features that you can not see) built into their brand of security papers. The printing process we employ can add other overt and covert features that are layered on top of the security paper features. While the security check stock does cost more than non-secure papers, the cost is minimal when compared to the cost of suffering check fraud and having to cover the loss. The Courts have established an end-user must incorporate a minimum of three features total to comply with the document security guidelines of the Uniform Commercial Codes. Our security check stock has ten security features split between the security check paper and the printed features.

What Advantages Are There in MICR Check Printing?

Security is the reason thousands of companies have changed over to MICR check printing. All pre-printed checks are negotiable at the time they are printed at the check manufacturing facility. Anyone who gets a hold of a preprinted check has access to a company's cash assets. MICR checks on the other hand are only negotiable once they come out of the laser printer. You don't have to inventory boxes of negotiable checks for all of your accounts. You can reduce your cost by having only the less expensive blank security check stock on hand. If you or your bank change a name or move to a new address, you don't have to destroy your old supply of checks and wait for any new orders of checks to arrive, you make the changes in the MICR software account maintenance area and you're ready to print checks in a matter of minutes.

Why Should I Buy My Consumables from Xtension Technologies?

We are MICR check printing specialists. We use our extensive knowledge of check fraud activities around the nation to design security check stock that exceeds all states' requirements for negotiable documents. We only sell new MICR toner cartridges that have MICR toner mated to a particular laser printer. We don't have cartridges with one type of toner that is expected to fit all printer characteristics. Better than 99% of our warehouse orders for security check stock, envelopes and MICR toner cartridges ship the same day the order is placed.

We Want to Print MICR Checks; We Don't Want To Stuff Them in Envelopes?

We offer a revolutionary piece of pressure sealing equipment that can take your checks after they are printed and fold and seal them into a secure document in one pass. The source document or check stock, that becomes the secure out-going mailing piece, you will use for this activity will have extra perforations and contact glue lines to accommodate the finishing process. In addition to checks, you can also use this pressure seal machine to prepare for mailing your 1099 and W-2 tax forms, invoices, statements, tax donation notification letters, utility bills, grade reports, membership cards, recall notices or marketing pieces as well as many documents that have yet to be developed.

Is MICR Check Printing the Only Things Xtension Technologies Provides?

From our inception, we have operated as a full service document management and print communication provider. We have been designing continuous feed and laser forms, checks, labels, tags, commercial printing, presentation folders, membership cards, and hotel specialty materials for many years. As a long time member of the business form's industry trade association, we are updated weekly as to new developments for products and services available to us to offer our clients. Our trade manufacturing alliance partners have also kept us updated by offering new ideas and products and we have personal relationships with these partners that date back decades. We have hundreds of thousands of promotional advertising and marketing products to choose from and these are available at the click of a mouse. Navigate around our web site for a sampling of the products and services we offer. Other clients look to us to help them complete their various business activities, shouldn't you?