MICR Toner Secures Our Checks, And More
MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, is a break-through technology proposed to the American Banking Association in 1956 by Dr.
Kenneth R.
Eldredge of the Stanford Research Institute.
The idea was a response to the dilemma facing the banking industry, as the manual processing of checks had become too slow and prone to errors once the use of checks and checking accounts became standard for the general population.
Banks required a secure, uniform, automated system for reading and sorting checks.
In 1958 the ABA settled on a uniform font, called E-13B as the industry standard in the United States.
Finally, in 1959 the use of MICR technology and MICR toner was implemented throughout the banking industry.
MICR ink contains iron oxide, the component that enables machines to read the codes on each check.
For the next few decades, most companies (and all individuals) purchased their bank checks from commercial printers, just as they purchased their letterhead, business cards and other forms.
Printing the MICR code on the bottom of each check to identify the payee bank routing and account number was only cost effective for printing companies, who had a large customer base, ample document storage space, and numerous printers.
Printing companies used dedicated printers for checks.
This allowed them to keep the MICR cartridges in place, not needing to change toner with each job change.
In the 1990s the commercial use of MICR ink and MICR cartridges became widespread.
As the price of printers continues to drop, more and more companies realize the advantages to printing their own checks.
While it was once necessary to provide secure storage areas for blank checks from the printers, now checks are printed as they are written, eliminating the need to secure the blank check inventory.
During the past three decades, businesses have continued to find uses for MICR toners.
Any printed item of value is enhanced by printing with MICR toners.
Everything from lottery tickets to tickets for sport and music events are printed and controlled with MICR ink.
Foiling the work of criminals trying to reproduce these items with standard desktop publishing has saved promoters and businesses millions of dollars, far more than the cost of the MICR cartridges needed to secure their checks and tickets.
Kenneth R.
Eldredge of the Stanford Research Institute.
The idea was a response to the dilemma facing the banking industry, as the manual processing of checks had become too slow and prone to errors once the use of checks and checking accounts became standard for the general population.
Banks required a secure, uniform, automated system for reading and sorting checks.
In 1958 the ABA settled on a uniform font, called E-13B as the industry standard in the United States.
Finally, in 1959 the use of MICR technology and MICR toner was implemented throughout the banking industry.
MICR ink contains iron oxide, the component that enables machines to read the codes on each check.
For the next few decades, most companies (and all individuals) purchased their bank checks from commercial printers, just as they purchased their letterhead, business cards and other forms.
Printing the MICR code on the bottom of each check to identify the payee bank routing and account number was only cost effective for printing companies, who had a large customer base, ample document storage space, and numerous printers.
Printing companies used dedicated printers for checks.
This allowed them to keep the MICR cartridges in place, not needing to change toner with each job change.
In the 1990s the commercial use of MICR ink and MICR cartridges became widespread.
As the price of printers continues to drop, more and more companies realize the advantages to printing their own checks.
While it was once necessary to provide secure storage areas for blank checks from the printers, now checks are printed as they are written, eliminating the need to secure the blank check inventory.
During the past three decades, businesses have continued to find uses for MICR toners.
Any printed item of value is enhanced by printing with MICR toners.
Everything from lottery tickets to tickets for sport and music events are printed and controlled with MICR ink.
Foiling the work of criminals trying to reproduce these items with standard desktop publishing has saved promoters and businesses millions of dollars, far more than the cost of the MICR cartridges needed to secure their checks and tickets.
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