Today, bank check processing equipment around the world uses MICR toner ink to recognize, read and validate checks. Banking equipment is standardized to recognize magnetic MICR ink and its special characters, enabling fast and secure check processing. This standardized system is an essential part of today’s banking industry, but the MICR technology on which it is based is relatively new.
The invention of MICR toner
In the mid-to-late 1950s, as America’s commerce and population grew, the need for faster and more standardized data processing at American banks put pressure on the banking industry to invent a way to standardize. and mechanize check processing. Until then, checks were read and processed by hand, making check processing slower, more expensive, and more prone to human error and fraud.
In the mid-1950s, US banks, bankers, manufacturers, and check processors formed a committee to investigate new check processing and validation methods. The committee resulted in the American Bankers Association (ABA). Dr. Kenneth Eldredge of the Stanford Research Institute presented the newly invented magnetic MICR ink technology to the committee, which decided that MICR ink presented the best solution for mechanized check processing.
MICR characters and standardization of check printing
The ABA commissioned the Batelle Memorial Institute to conduct a council on its behalf to determine which fonts would be used in printing MICR checks. Fifty industry specialists, mostly check printers, participated in the council, which decided to adopt a standardized font known as E-13A MICR. During their early testing stages, some ATMs were found to have difficulty distinguishing the number 8 from the transit symbol, so the E-13A MICR font standard was modified and the E-13B MICR font system was adopted.
In 1959, the MICR E-13B font and technology system was accepted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which published the standards for MICR printing. MICR technology has been implemented in all banking and check printing industries, and today check printers and bank processing machines use the same technology. Detailed specifications for printing MICR E-13B fonts are available in ANSI; These specifications detail the standards for MICR character formation, as well as the location of lines and other verification components.
MICR Toner and Check Printing Standards Worldwide
Although it was the American Banker’s Association that instituted the use of MICR technology and MICR E-13B fonts, the MICR system is used as a standard by the banking industry throughout the world. The E-13B MICR source standards are accepted by most of North America and some countries in Europe, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Mexico, Colombia, and Turkey. CMC-7 is a different set of standardized fonts used for MICR check printing. These characters are used by Spain, France, Israel, most of South America, and many Mediterranean countries.