Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) is a technology used primarily by the banking industry to process checks. MICR characters must be printed with magnetic ink that contains iron oxide to allow them to be read even when overwritten by non-magnetic ink.
Checks can be ordered with the MICR characters already printed by the production house, but this is more costly in small quantities. MICR characters also may be printed on a blank check with HP magnetic ink when the check is created. In this case, all of the elements of MICR must be verified when printing.
MICR ink toner allows checks to be printed on demand. It is essential that checks be printed with a magnetic ink cartridge because this ink is visually indistinguishable from standard toner. If this error does occur, it may not be discovered until the check is rejected at the clearing center.
Three points to consider about MICR ink cartridges:
- Buy MICR cartridges the same way you buy regular toner.
- Buy in bulk to save money.
- Buy in bulk and resell to add a new product line to your business.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Order HP MICR ink cartridges from online retail outlets
Small business owners can easily buy HP magnetic ink cartridges online. Select the correct HP MICR toner cartridge according to your printer model. Divide the number of printed checks required by the page capacity of the cartridge to determine the number of cartridges required.
I recommend: Find MICR cartridges for all HP printers at
HP MICR Cartridge. It offers free shipping on all orders and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
PrinterM Datascribe specializes in all MICR accessories, including cartridges.
Buy Hewlett Packard MICR cartridges at a discount
Many sources of HP magnetic ink cartridges offer volume discounts as well as discounts to specific types of customers such as educational, government, military and non-profit.
I recommend: Find several different discounts on HP MICR ink cartridges from
Ink Pal, which specializes in orders to large organizations.
InkJet Superstore offers new and remanufactured MICR cartridges at a substantial discount.
Resell HP MICR cartridges
MICR ink toner tends to be consumed at a predictable rate so it can be a steady source of income if you already have an established customer base of compatible products.
I recommend: Contact
HP directly to become an HP affiliate. Advantage Laser Products actively solicits resellers. You will need to fill out its
application form and fax it a copy of your reseller's license.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- An MICR character reader can process about 10,000 characters per second. However, this speed requires precise placement of the magnetic ink character recognition code on the check. The expected non-read rate for checks is less than 1% and the incorrect read rate is less than 1 in 100,000.
The official source of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) Ink for HP Printers is
the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition Ink for HP Printer page at Business.com
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