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ST Secure MICR Printer User’s Guide 9 2006, Source Technologies
March 2006 All Rights Reserved
Data Elements
Date
The date is a required data element for a check. It represents the day on or after
the transfer of the check amount may take place. It is usually placed in the upper
right portion of the check so it does not interfere with the convenience amount field.
The common format is Month, Day and Year, however, the military format of Day,
Month and Year is also acceptable.
Amount
The amount of the check is a required element for negotiation. The amount usually
appears at least twice on the check. The amount printed in numbers is called the
convenience amount. The amount printed in words is sometimes referred to as the
legal amount, this is the amount that applies if there is a difference between the
two amount fields. The amount may also be printed a third time on the check in a
secure font, intended to make alteration of the amount field difficult. See Chapter 6
and Appendix B for information on Source Technologies’ Secure Numeric Font.
Convenience Amount
The convenience amount location is specified in ANSI X9.7. The basic location is
illustrated in Figure 3.1. Since this amount can be machine scanned, its location
and design should be kept within the specifications. The amount beginning with
the dollar sign should be left justified within the scan area with numbers spaced
normally to the right. The dollars and cents should be separated by a decimal
point with the cents printed in the same size font as the rest of the field. Embedded
commas should not be used. The convenience amount background should have
good reflectance so it does not interfere with optical scanning (see ANSI X9.7).
The convenience amount should be printed in a simple, fixed pitch font. We
recommend our ICR Secure Numeric Font (see Appendix C). It was designed to
be easily read by image capture equipment and is also a fraud deterrent. A fixed
pitch courier font, or if available, OCR-B, are also acceptable fonts to print the
convenience amount.
Note: The Source Technologies’ Secure Numeric Font (see Appendix B) should
not be used in the convenience amount since it is not a machine readable font.
Amount In Words
The amount in words (sometimes called the legal amount) is normally located
either above or below and to the left of the convenience amount. The area for the
amount in words should be entirely filled to make alterations difficult. The amount
should start at the far left of the line with the words placed immediately adjacent to
each other. The cents need not be written out. They may be expressed as a
fraction (60/100), and should be placed immediately to the right of the dollar
amount and followed by a line or other space filler to inhibit alteration.
Example: One hundred forty-four and 62/100---------------DOLLARS
Given the available area on the document, you may need to use a smaller font
when printing larger value amounts.