Burton MICR System Solutions

Quality control is of the utmost importance...

When printing MICR documents with a laser printer, the importance of quality control cannot be over-emphasized. Superior overall print quality is paramount. This is characterized by good character uniformity with few or no defects, superior paper quality, adequate toner fusing and, of course, good design of the form itself. In this section, we will take a closer look at each of these elements.

Controlling the MICR laser printing process...

Banks are expressing concerns about the lack of quality control standards and potentially high rejection rates from desktop MICR operations. It appears they have some justification. There are many poor products, and the uninitiated business owner may not have the knowledge base upon which to make proper selections. Even using good products, a lack of understanding and knowledge among both suppliers and users make the possibility of errors quite high.

The biggest consideration when using a standard laser printer for MICR printing is one of maintaining quality. This is not because the printing itself is poor; it is because the typical laser printer was designed for word processing or graphics, not checks or other MICR documents. Alignment is not as critical for those applications as it is in MICR printing. There are laser printers which have been specifically designed for MICR printing. These are considerably more expensive. However, for the user printing 2,500 checks or more in a month, the added cost may be justified.

As detailed in a previous section, the American Bankers Association's ANSI X9B Services Committee, of which Burton MICR System Solutions is a member, has set standards for the printing of MICR lines by desktop systems. These standards are necessary to ensure that the MICR-encoded line can be read by high-speed reader/sorters.

To be read by high-speed bank sorters, the MICR-encoded line of 14 characters must be placed within certain specific parameters on the check. The ABA requires these characters to be exactly 1/8" apart. Therefore, any software used must be precise in its exact placement of character components.

Placement of the MICR line on the check is also critical. Most banks will provide templates to indicate the exact position of the line and the amount of space that must surround it. Burton MICR Solutions' CheckMate software will accurately place the MICR line and characters to meet these specifications.

Toner and print quality is crucial to MICR printing...

Check rejection may also result from toner problems, such as insufficient magnetic toner fused to the check surface. This failure may result from damaged or inferior toner cartridges, insufficient toner in the cartridge, improper fusing temperature, the wrong paper texture or even an incompatibility in absorbency between toner and paper.

Significant research has been conducted to define the proper toner qualities for each line of printers, based on its fusing, technology, temperature, and speed. Specific attention is given to toner because it is critical to the quality of the finished document. We believe that most MICR toner available on the market does not meet the ABA/ANSI standards. MICR cartridges offered by remanufacturers are generally not tested for compliance to industry standards. Burton MICR System Solutions offers toner because it is the only way to ensure consistent quality for our customers. We use the ANSI and ABA criteria to test our toners for permanence and signal strength.

You can order a vast array of MICR compatible toner cartridges from our online store. We also offer MICR-printing compatible laser printers and a full line of quality MICR testing equipment.

Our Quality Guarantee:

At Burton MICR System Solutions, we emphasize quality through every step of the MICR printing process. We offer a total solution to our customers, including software, magnetic toners, paper stock, and printers, all of which integrate to provide a high-quality MICR document. Burton MICR System Solutions guarantees that the MICR documents produced with its toner, software and paper will meet or exceed all established industry standards for permanence and signal strength.

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