Magnetic Ink Character Recognition Line - MICR
Categories: Tech
The bottom of every check has special information printed on it. Not the sports logo or Disney character that appears in the corner, but the series of numbers on the bottom (we're talking about paper checks here, the kind your grandparents used to pay for their Blockbuster Video subscription or to buy a fax machine...you might have to visit one in the Museum of Outdated Financial Documents to know what we're getting at).
The information printed in this part of the document indicates the routing number and account number associated with the check. It tells the bank where the money is coming from (letting them locate the account).
These numbers are printed in a special type of ink...the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (the info at the bottom is sometimes called the "MICR line"). The special setup allows the information to be read by a machine. Your banker can just feed the check through the appropriate device, and it can convey the account information instantly.