Articles

Check Out MICR Printers

Print quality followed by security features should be your top priorities in buying a MICR check printer

Reproduced from the February 1994 issue of AS/400 Systems Management
courtesy of Adams/Hunter Publishing Inc.

Everyday laser printers may continue to reign as the largest laser market category, but MICR printers are slowly gaining a foothold in niche markets. International Data Corp., a computer market research company based in Framingham, Mass., estimates that the installed base of desktop MICR printers stands at about 15,000 units with annual shipments of 3,000 units.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR), a means of printing information that can be read electronically, is most often used for printing checks. MICR printers use special fonts and magnetic ink or toner to produce magnetic characters that are read by electronic data processing systems, such as those used by banks for processing checks.

Insurers, payroll companies and financial institutions are most likely to benefit from bringing MICR printing in-house, but others may also find that MICR printers are worth a look. Although most companies buy a MICR printer for printing payroll and accounts payable checks, MICR printers can also be used to print loan coupons, depository transfers and other MICR-encoded negotiable documents.

One key advantage to MICR printing is that it saves money by producing checks and other documents from blank paper. This avoids the cost and possible security breaches of storing preprinted checks. It also eliminates having to switch paper stock to print checks from different bank accounts or for each uniquely-designed check type.

Using AS/400- or PC-based check printing software, you can design your checks and merge logos and signatures with the check layout. As the chart on the next page shows, printers internally support a number of bitmapped and scaleable fonts, and optional font cards and cartridges offer many more. The printer can then print variable data, signatures, logos, the check form, bank information and the MICR line in one pass.

To retain tight control over check printing, IS managers can and should assure the security of check printing on both the hardware and software side. Sensitive check information, such as the check issuer's signature, can be stored on detachable media for safe keeping when not in use. The Troy 508 from Troy, A Division of Pierce Do., Santa Ana, Calif., for example, has a detachable image cartridge that stores signatures as well as logos.

Software such as Check-Gard/400 AFP from Bottomline Technologies, Exeter, N.H., which enables multiple local- or remotely-attached users to access the system, has a security profile on each user to determine the level of access each is allowed.

Other printers employ a combination of multiple-level password control, audit trails and computer-accessible transaction histories, security reports and electronic key locks to reduce the potential for fraud.

Multiple Personalities

Many laser printers now available offer multiple printing capabilities. Vendors now offer laser printers that do double-duty by converting to MICR check printing. Both regular laser printers, as well as some MICR printers, can tackle a variety of print jobs to help justify the purchase.

Some software vendors offer software and toner cartridges that enable popular all-purpose printers such as Hewlett-Packard LaserJets and IBM Laser Printers to print checks. Additionally, all of the printers on this guide support Hewlett-Packard's Printer Control Language (HP PCL) 4 and/or 5, as well as common IBM emulations.

In the buyers guide chart above, all but one of the listed printers are laser printers. The only exception is the Kentek MICR Toning System from Kentek Information Systems, Boulder, Colo., which is based on light emitting diode (LED) technology, producing laser-like quality.

Most of the listed printers, including the 7028 and 7817 printers from Interface Systems Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., are desktop models ideal for departmental use. For more labor-intensive purposes, try the 8790 and 9790 MICR printers from Laser Solutions Inc., Carlsbad, Calif. These heavy-duty units, which Laser Solutions OEMs from Xerox, have duty cycles ranging from 1.2 to 2.5 million pages per month.

Printers are simplex- or duplex-capable, meaning they either print on a single side or both sides. A duplex printer is necessary for printing endorsement lines on the back of the check and is also helpful when printing remittance statements. The 4039M and RT4030M Series printers from Rosetta Technologies Corp., Tampa, Fla., for example, offer duplex as an option.

MICR printers print with special MICR toner cartridges that work the same way as regular laser cartridges. But MICR cartridges are more costly. Cost, and the specialized nature of MICR printers, make justifying MICR printers more difficult than laser printers. Impression Technology Inc., Melbourne, Fla., helps keep operating costs for its ZL10 printer down by allowing it to use Canon's SX-style cartridge, repeatedly a more cost-effective cartridge than other MICR solutions. And Siemens Nixdorf Printing Systems, Boca Raton, Fla., has introduced a toner recycling feature that provides higher toner yields and greater cost savings.

The higher cost of MICR cartridges underscores the greater importance of quality in MICR printing than in typical laser printing applications. Poorly printed checks will not clear the array of reader/sorters that all checks go through. Rejections often incur penalty charges and too many will make a MICR printer a bad investment.

Look for printers that meet standards set by the American National Standards Institute and the American Bankers Association for MICR printing signal strength., permanence and font quality. Also, talk to other IS managers about their check clearance success rates with their MICR printers.

Be sure to use virgin, 24-pound paper stock and replace toner cartridges regularly to ensure that the print emits sufficient signal strength. Some printers such as those from ACOM Computer Inc., Long Beach, Calif., have a low toner indicator to indicate proper MICR signal strength.

Although all vendors agree on the importance of quality in MICR printing, vendors debate on the viability of using a printer specifically designed for MICR printing versus a laser printer that has been made MICR-enabled. Xerox Printing Systems, El Segundo, Calif., contends that MICR printing should be designed as a system as its own 4197 MICR printer is, and not added as an after-thought to an existing laser printer. The position of Anzac Computer Equipment Corp., Hayward Calif., on the other hand is that because MICR lasers are simply regular laser printers that use magnetic toner, there is no need to have a dedicated laser for check printing. The Anzac 3008 and 3017 lasers allow both regular laser and MICR printing at the change of a toner cartridge.

Sue Conning is associate editor of Systems. She can be reached at (708) 427-2027 or via CompuServe at 71333,3316.

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October 28, 2003