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The Basics of MICR Printing
If you have ever looked closely at a check, you may have noticed there is a line of numbers printed on the bottom of the check. This line is called a MICR line, pronounced “my-ker.” MICR is an acronym for magnetic ink character recognition. The MICR line is printed with MICR Toner and  contains information about the including the account and routing numbers.

Why Print With MICR Toner?
The MICR line on checks is printed using a special toner.  MICR toners contain a magnetic ink that can be read by reader-sorter machines. Consider the amount of people and businesses who write checks in the course of daily business. Banks must process a very high volume of checks each day. Check processing must be automated in order for banks to complete these transactions quickly. Magnetic toner has allowed banks to automate check processing. Banks use reader-sorter machines which recognize the codes printed on checks using the special magnetic ink. Banks can place checks into reader-sorter machines and the checks are processed quickly and effectively.

How Magnetic Ink Character Recognition Works
Reader-sorter machines are equipped with MICR technology enabling them to recognize and read characters printed with magnetic ink. The magnetic quality of the ink comes from the chemical compound iron oxide. You may wonder why magnetic toner is a better option than regular toner for checks. Checks are often stamped and written on by the issuer, the receiving party, and the bank. If regular toner were used, it would be impossible to automate check processing because the machine would not know which toner to read. For example, the issuer may write their phone number on a check. Imagine the chaos that it would cause if a sorting machine were to recognize a phone number as an account number. MICR toner is regulated by the American National Standards Institute, or ANSI. The X9 Committee of ANSI requires that MICR toners use a specific signal strength which ensures that the ink can be recognized by reader-sorter machines.

Printing the Characters
In addition to the ANSI regulation regarding the signal strength of MICR toner, there are also regulations concerning the fonts used when printing MICR lines on checks. Depending upon the geographic location, MICR lines must be printed using a specific font. In Israel, South America, and the Mediterranean countries, the font used is CMC-7. All other countries, including the United States, use a font called E-13B. The fonts used in MICR printing are unique because they utilize only 14 characters. The characters used in MICR printing include the numbers 0 through 9 and symbols for Transit, Amount, On-Us and Dash. Each character must be printed in a specific location on the check and must be exactly 1/8th of an inch wide. Any variation in the size or placement of the characters will result in the reader-sorter machine rejecting the check or reading it incorrectly.

MICR Toners for Precision and Secure Printing
MICR toner was initially created to assist in the automation of check processing, however; it has the added benefit of enhanced security. For this reason, the use of MICR toner has been adopted in other industries outside of banking, Magnetic ink can be found on many documents including airline tickets, coupons, and receipts for insurance premiums.