Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide 701P22140 January 2003 Xerox Corporation 701 S. Aviation Boulevard El Segundo, CA 90245 ©2002, 2003 by Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Copyright protection claimed includes all forms and matters of copyrightable material and information now allowed by statutory or judicial law or hereinafter granted, including without limitation, material generated from the software programs which are displayed on the screen, such as icons, screen displays, looks, etc. Printed in the United States of America. Publication number: 701P22140 Xerox® and all Xerox products mentioned in this publication are trademarks of Xerox Corporation. Other products and trademarks of other companies, including Dataglyph™, are also acknowledged. Changes are periodically made to this document. Changes, technical inaccuracies, and typographic errors will be corrected in subsequent editions. Table of contents Introduction . ix About this guide . .ix How to use this guide . x 1. Overview . 1-1 A brief history . 1-2 Why MICR? . 1-5 Check printing capabilities . 1-5 Check processing procedure . 1-6 Production cycle of a check . 1-9 Changes in check creation role . 1-11 2. Environment . 2-1 Types of MICR applications . 2-1 Manufacturing checks . 2-1 Issuing checks . 2-2 Issuing turnaround documents . 2-2 Printing financial forms . 2-3 Xerox MICR printing systems . 2-3 MICR printing technologies . 2-4 Printer technical optimization . 2-5 Typical MICR printing concerns . 2-5 3. Paper facts . 3-1 Paper guidelines . 3-1 MICR paper requirements . 3-2 Basis weight . 3-2 Sheffield smoothness scale . 3-3 Grain direction . 3-4 Moisture content . 3-5 Reflectance . 3-5 Curl . 3-6 Perforation . 3-6 Metallic content . 3-7 Stiffness . 3-7 Cutting precision . 3-8 Xerox paper . 3-8 Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide iii Table of contents Paper maintenance . 3-9 Wrapping factors . 3-9 Storage factors . 3-9 Temperature and humidity conditions . 3-10 Paper runability criteria . 3-11 Preprinted forms considerations . 3-13 Inks . 3-13 Security features . 3-14 Duplication detection . 3-14 Alteration prevention . 3-15 Application design . 3-15 Numbered stocks . 3-15 Features to avoid . 3-16 4. Document design. 4-1 Check document content . 4-1 Security features . 4-1 Background printing . 4-2 Fixed information . 4-2 Date line . 4-2 Amount lines . 4-3 Payee line . 4-3 Signature lines . 4-4 Name of financial institution . 4-4 Memo line . 4-4 Account title . 4-4 Check serial number . 4-5 Fractional routing number . 4-5 MICR line . 4-5 MICR line (clear band) format requirements . 4-5 Format specifications using E13B . 4-7 E13B character set . 4-7 E13B numbers . 4-7 E13B symbols . 4-7 On-Us symbol . 4-7 Transit symbol . 4-8 Amount symbol . 4-8 Dash symbol . 4-8 E13B character design . 4-9 Field formats—E13B font . 4-9 Document Specifications form . 4-11 Amount field . 4-13 On-Us field . 4-13 Transit field . 4-13 External processing code (EPC) field . 4-14 Auxiliary On-Us field . 4-14 iv Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide Table of contents Field formats summary . 4-14 Character alignment . 4-16 CMC7 font . 4-16 CMC7 numbers and symbols . 4-16 Character design . 4-18 MICR character spacing requirements . 4-19 Character spacing algorithm for 300 dpi . 4-19 Fixed pitch and proportional font spacing . 4-19 Check size . 4-23 Other application considerations . 4-25 Two sided printing . 4-25 Perforations . 4-25 Multiple-up printing . 4-25 Readability . ..