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Definitions
From "Understanding And Designing Checks" (X9/TG-2
1990)
Aligning Edge
The lower edge of the check when its face is viewed.
Background
The basic color of a document, separate from lines and information printed on it.
Cashiers Check
A check provided to a customer of a bank or acquired from the bank for remittance
purposes. The check is drawn on a bank and signed by a bank officer or employee on behalf
of the bank as drawer and is a direct obligation of the bank.
Check
Any payment document written against an account maintained by a financial institution
for the transfer of a dollar amount from one party to another. The term includes
variable-amount payment documents, such as personal checks, business checks, government
checks, and drafts in paper form, issued by a financial institution, directing the payment
of a fixed sum of money to a third party.
Continuous Form Check
Checks manufactured by a method that results in many checks joined together for
automatic feeding and printing in data processing printers.
Convenience Amount
The value of the check expressed in numbers.
Debossment
Printing that results in the characters being pressed into the paper. Excessive
debossment can be a serious problem when it occurs in the printing of the MICR line.
Embossment
Printing that is raised above the surface of the paper; sometimes improperly used in
place of "debossment".
External Processing Code Field (EPC Field)
A single-digit optional field, used for special purposes as authorized by the
Accredited Standards Committee X9B, located to the left of the routing field on a check.
Halftone Printing
A printing process that prints one or more basic colors in discrete patterns of dots.
The human eye perceives the combination of the basic colors in the dots as a mixture or
hue. In the case of a single color, the human eye perceives a lighter shade of the basic
printed color.
Intaglio Printing
A printing process that results in the paper surface being distorted into two or more
different levels. This technique is generally used as a part of an anti-forgery process
with travelers cheques.
Leading Edge
The right edge of a check when its face is viewed.
Legal Amount
The value of the check expressed in text. If this value differs from that shown in the
Convenience Amount, the Legal Amount value will prevail.
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
Characters used to print or encode information on documents so they can be processed by
machines. For details, see ANSI Standard X9.27.
MICR Clear Band
A bank 0.625 (5/8) inch high, measured from the aligning edge of a check, parallel to
that edge and extending the length of the check, reserved for the imprinting of MICR
characters. These characters are printed on the face of the check. The MICR Clear Band
must however, be free of any other magnetic printing on both the front and the back of the
check.
Money Order
An order issued by a post office, financial institution, telegraph office, or other
agency for payment of a specified sum of money, usually at another office. Two types of
money orders exist. The first type is a product marketed by firms under the strict
security rules of a franchise agreement with their outlets. The second type is sold by
individual institutions and the Post Office as a convenience to their customers.
Payee Line
The line on checks that provides for the entry of the name of the party to whom the
check is being paid.
Payment Document
Any paper document that is used to transfer funds from one party to another.
Print Contrast Signal (PCS)
A ratio of the difference of the reflectivity of the background and data to the
reflectivity of the check background (see ANSI Standard X9.7 for more detailed
information).
Printed Information
Lines or other information printed on a payment document to convey the informational
content of the document and not considered to be part of the background color.
Reflectance
The relative brightness of an illuminated paper surface as seen by the human eye. The
eye modifies the apparent brightness at different wave lengths according to its response
to the human-visible spectrum. Equipment that measures reflectance requires a filter that
matches its response to that of the human eye (see ANSI Standard X9.7).
Routing Number
A numbering system that identifies a particular bank.
Scenic Check
A type of check that portrays a scene or colorful pattern.
Solid Printing
A printing process that applies a single solid color to a piece of paper. The color
seen by the eye will be the ink color. It can be likened to paint applied to a surface.
Tellers Check
A check provided to a customer of a bank or acquired from the bank for remittance
purposes. The check is drawn by the bank on another bank or payable through or at a bank.
Trailing Edge
The left edge of the check when its face is viewed.
Travelers Cheque
A check for a fixed amount in a given currency, issued by a bank or
financially-oriented company, and sold to the public through an agency of that bank or
company. The check is designed with a high level of physical security (through the use of
patterns, shades, and intaglio printing), and the identity of the original purchaser is
self-certified by the matching of a counter-signature with a signature applied at time of
purchase.
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