What is MICR Ink?

MICR FOR THE MASSES
PART III
What is MICR Ink?


What about MICR Ink? Since 2003, VersaCheck has produced and sold its MICR ink “VersaInk,” which it sells through its website and various retailers. This is an ink product available in common cartridge types for various HP, Canon, Lexmark and Dell inkjet printers. Versa also produces magnetic ink which can be used in remanufacturing or refilling these inkjet cartridges.

Inkjet printers, which utilize MICR ink for the black printing and color ink (which is not MICR) produce attractive and colorful checks for individuals and businesses which want that option.

“If you do not need color printing,“ says Shulman ”and you will be printing several hundred checks, you will want to use a MICR laser toner cartridge and printer. The cost per page will be substantially below an inkjet. It isn’t worth going to MICR printing and a dedicated printer if you only print a few or occasional checks. You are doing this because you have substantial volume.”

In addition, explained Shulman, inkjet cartridges are not only expensive (about $35 for an HP compatible MICR cartridge), but have a 2 year shelf life and six month usable life once opened. “If you only print a few checks a month,” explained Shulman, “your ink cartridges could dry up between use-causing substantial waste. I constantly have that problem with my own rarely-used home multifunction – and I don’t pay for my ink.”

MICR for the Masses: Part II

MICR for the Masses
Part II: MICR Printers and Toner Cartridges for Small Business Check Printing
By M. Shulman
President
Cartridge Technologies, Tempe, Arizona

As a business owner, you’ve decided to print your own business checks. You’ve purchased check-printing software compatible with your accounting and/or payroll system. Now, you must choose a printer, purchase MICR toner and purchase check stock.
What are your options?

Bank security check stock uses security paper that is resistant to tampering and forgery. The paper is engineered with fiber composition, “underlying printing” and other features designed to create a secure check document. Various companies sell secure stock, including ACOM Solutions ($36. for 2500 sheets), Versa, Troy and others.

Whether or not a business decides to purchase a specialized MICR printer, it should dedicate a printer to use for its MICR checks, deposit slips and other secure documents. That printer will be fitted with MICR Toner and should not be changed back and forth from MICR to regular toner. To fill the business need for a dependable, low-priced printer for dedicated MICR use, Cartridge Technologies produces a “HP1020MICRPak” which combines a new HP LaserJet 1020 monochrome laser printer equipped with a new MICR toner cartridge and sells for the price of a regular HP LaserJet 1020 printer.

“If the goal is to be cost effective, the business owner should choose a laser printer for checks which will fit the business’s need for quantity and speed and also a printer for which there are good low-cost compatible MICR toner cartridges available, “ explains Jeremy Shulman, Vice President of Cartridge Technologies which manufactures low-priced generic MICR toner cartridges sold at www.vibrantink.com and www.cartridgetech.com.

Until the last few years, companies such as Troy Group and Source Technologies had the MICR printer and MICR toner market practically to themselves, concentrating in high volume corporate and government uses. Troy is a formidable player in the market, with its own line of Troy secured printers, which are primarily security-adapted HP printers. Source Technologies adapts Lexmark printers for its line of secured printers. Both Troy and Source Technologies produce their own lines of MICR toner cartridges for HP, Lexmark, Xerox and IBM printers.

However, as Troy states on its website, if a company does not require the highest level of security and just wants to make sure its checks will be acceptable to the banking system, standard laser printers equipped with MICR toner cartridges produce excellent quality product.

“Most low-end HP monochrome laser printers provide more than acceptable quality for MICR check printing, “ explained Shulman. “While a business may print a large number of checks, a printing load of 500 or so pages per week is not substantial for even the smallest laser printers.”

“The HP LaserJet 1010, 1012, 1018, 1020 printers sell for prices as low as $128 (HP web price for the new LaserJet 1018 printer) and use a 2000 page yield Q2612A MICR toner cartridge – which we produce at Cartridge Technologies and sell for just $62.99.” This is a new generic toner cartridge, explained Shulman, which is opened, the regular toner removed and converted to MICR toner use. It has never been used before the conversion. Other MICR toner cartridges may be remanufactured HP, Lexmark or Samsung toner cartridges, where some or all components are replaced and the cartridge filled with MICR toner. Or, an original unused toner cartridge may be converted to MICR. Price differentials can depend on the method of production – or the marketplace.

“Like any printer purchase, you should first find your supply and then purchase the printer,“ explained Shulman. “There are good generic and compatible MICR toner cartridges available for most HP LaserJet printers, Lexmark laser printers, Canon laser printers, Xerox printers, IBM printers, Samsung laser printers and Dell laser printers. You should identify your volume, types of paper handling required and your toner supplier.”

Cartridge Technologies produces MICR toner cartridges at similar price points for most of the popular HP LaserJet printers, Canon laser printers, Lexmark printers, Samsung printers and Dell printers. Cartridge Technologies also produces MICR toner cartridges for Source Technologies printers, which it sells at prices significantly below that of Source Technologies.

MICR toner cartridges must comply with American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) and/or American Banking Association (“ABA”) requirements for MICR toner. MICR toner is produced and certified by the toner manufacturing plant, then distributed to cartridge conversion and remanufacturing plants in sealed containers.

“MICR toner is not made for Brother printers,“ said Shulman. “People tell me about it, but it is a myth that I cannot substantiate with any of the MICR toner manufacturers or distributors in the United States – and I’ve called lots of them. You may see it advertised, but it is always “out of stock.”

“The reasons are technical. The Brother toner cartridge/drum system operation is incompatible with MICR toner – and I don’t think it is anybody’s priority to adapt for this specialized use when there are so many easier alternatives available.” Early Brother printer models, which use Canon, Lexmark or Xerox print engines, have MICR cartridges available under the Canon, Lexmark or Xerox cartridge number.

MICR for the MASSES

MICR for the Masses
March 1, 2007
Part I: Why Small Businesses Print their Own Checks and How They Do It
By M. Shulman
Cartridge Technologies, Tempe, Arizona

As small US businesses adopt computerized bookkeeping and accounting programs, and routinely print check information using standard accounting programs, many business owners investigate whether to print their own checks.

Programs such as QuickBooks, Quicken, Peachtree and internet and computer-based payroll programs, allow users to print check details (date, payee, amount, memo and any additional information) on pre-printed check stock forms using their office printers.

These pre-printed forms have intrinsic drawbacks. The user synchronizes the pre-numbered checks with the program. Businesses with multiple accounts, such as general payables, payroll and escrow, must maintain multiple stocks of preprinted check forms. The forms are expensive and companies frequently do not upgrade or replace them until they are completely used.

MICR printing provides an alternate means of issuing checks.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a special kind of optical character recognition (OCR) technology that was adopted by the US banking industry to facilitate check processing. MICR characters are printed in a specialized font using “ink” that has magnetic properties, allowing the MICR characters to be read by high speed check reading/sorting equipment used by financial institutions.

As the checks travel through the US check clearing system, they pass through high speed MICR reader/sorters which use a device, similar to the head of an audio tape recorder, which sends a magnetic charge to the check, allowing the reader/sorter to read the information contained within the “MICR line” quickly-at speeds of up to70 mph.

The combination of specially-designed characters and magnetic ink make the error rate for check scanning extremely small. If negotiable documents are printed with regular toner, the reader/sorter will reject the check for manual processing – and the company that issued it may be charged a fee.

Within the past few years, check printing programs have been released which allow “on demand” (as opposed to the large batch printing used by government agencies, banks, insurance companies) MICR check printing by businesses, at very reasonable prices. By printing checks using MICR laser printer toner, all check information, including static information such as the company logo, name and address and the MICR line, as well as all variable information (frequently including pre-authorized signatures) is printed directly onto blank check stock.

In order to implement MICR check printing, a business must have (1) a check printing program, either free standing or integrated into its general accounting or payroll program; (2) a dedicated printer capable of MICR check printing; (3) blank secure check stock and (4) MICR toner (or ink) cartridges to fit the printer.

The price of check printing programs is now within most small business budgets, and versions are now available that work directly with most standard accounting programs. For example, VersaCheck QuickBooks and Quicken compatible programs sell for $59. Check Factory by Trans-Micro, Inc. also coordinates with QuickBooks. The programs supply designs, characters and the MICR line-the 65 character line of numbers and special characters that appears at the bottom of every check—describing the routing information and account. They usually allow for multiple accounts, logos, company and other information and provide varied security features.

“The term “magnetic ink” in MICR is deceptive, according to Jeremy Shulman, Vice President of ReInk Technologies Inc., operator of Vibrant Ink. “With limited and recent exceptions (Versa released an actual MICR “ink” usable in several HP type inkjet printers in 2003), MICR printing is produced via laser toner cartridges which contain a 50% to 60% iron oxide additive content that permits the bank line information of a check to be read by electronic bank processing equipment.”

The intrinsic properties of ink (a liquid) and toner (a powder) make MICR a difficult product to produce with ink, since the iron oxide particles may not properly distribute. Toner powder is more easily produced with high iron oxide contents and much more cost-effective for high volume monochrome printing.

Several companies advertise and sell special MICR Laser Printers which are produced or modified to comply with ANSI X.9 standards for MICR printing and which may also include important security features such as secure numeric fonts, encrypted transmissions, removable font cartridges and PCMCIA Cards, allowing specialized fonts, company logos, signatures and other check information to be removed for security.
Companies with multiple MICR toner stations, advanced requirements or MICR printing through remote printers (where the printer is not within visual range of the person printing) should consider these printers.

“Most small businesses” said Shulman, “find that standard laser printers fitted with MICR toner cartridges fit their check printing requirements.” MICR toner cartridges are produced for most common Hewlett Packard, Canon and Lexmark laser printers as well as for popular Dell, Samsung and Smartech (a brand which uses a Lexmark engine) printers. You can find them on the Vibrant Ink website at http://vibrantink.com. “There are no MICR cartridges for current Brother laser printers. Brother uses a toner and drum system which creates magnetic fields which are incompatible with magnetic toner. Manufacturers of MICR toners tell me the R&D required to produce a MICR toner for Brother would be ridiculously expensive.” Early Brother models used print engines manufactured by HP, Canon, Lexmark and Xerox. Those machines use the corresponding HP, Canon, Lexmark and Xerox cartridges, most of which are available in MICR.

Coming Soon: Choices in MICR printers and MICR Toner Cartridges? Cost, Utility and Value.