Characteristics of MICR
- Magnetic Ink: MICR uses specially formulated magnetic ink that contains iron oxide particles. This ink allows the characters to be easily detected and read by magnetic sensors.
- Character Recognition: MICR enables the automated recognition and processing of characters, typically numeric digits and special symbols, printed in a specific MICR font.
- Machine Reading: MICR characters are read by magnetic sensors or MICR readers, which detect the magnetic properties of the characters and convert them into digital data.
- High Accuracy and Reliability: MICR technology provides high accuracy and reliability in reading characters since it is resistant to smudging, fading, or tampering. This makes it suitable for applications that require secure and error-free data capture, such as banking and finance.
- Standardized Format: MICR follows a standardized format defined by international standards organizations, ensuring consistency in character placement, font design, and encoding rules.
MICR Full Form
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is mainly used to recognize and handle cheques. The series of characters at the left-hand bottom corner of a check is its MICR. It is made up of three sets of numbers: the check number, the customer’s account number, and the bank routing number.