Magnetic Ink character reader (MICR)

MICR is widely used by banks to process large volumes of cheques and deposit forms, written everyday. A special ink called magnetic ink is used to write characters on the cheques and forms which are to be processed by a MICR. MICR is capable of reading characters on a paper written with magnetic ink. The magnetic ink is megnatized during the input process. The MICR reads the magnetic patterns of the written characters. To identify the character these patterns are compared with special pattern stored in the memory. Before cheque are issues to customers the identification number of the bank and the depositors account number are printed on the lower left-side of the cheques with the magnetic ink. The amount is printed on the lower right side of the cheque by the bank employee with the magnetic ink after the cheque is revived from the customer. When a cheque is entered into an MICR, it passes through a magnetic field. The iron oxide particles are magnetized under the magnetic field. The reader head reads the character written on the cheque with the magnetic ink. It interprets the characters and sends the corresponding data directly to the computer for processing.