Although you can physically print
checks with “regular” toner instead of MICR toner,
there are several important issues to consider
before doing so.
-
Banks,
clearing houses, and other financial
institutions read checks in one of two ways –
optically, or magnetically (and sometimes both
ways). Some people believe that because “their
bank” reads checks optically, they can therefore
print them with standard toner without
repercussions. The problem is, there is no way
to guarantee that every check is processed by
the bank on which it was drawn – in fact, there
are usually several financial institutions
involved, and chances are, at least one of them
is a “magnetic-read-only” institution. This
means that although your checks may make it
through the system some of the time, sooner or
later they will be slowed down because they have
to be manually read, or in some cases, the bank
will simply return them as unreadable.
-
The industry
standard for printing checks calls for MICR
toner, and for good reason: if someone were to
attempt to duplicate a check on a copier, the
toner on the copy would be “regular” toner, not
MICR. Using MICR toner makes it much more
difficult to photocopy a check, and that much
easier to spot a fraudulent copy if one should
be created.
-
Finally,
there is the issue of “Due Diligence”. Due
Diligence simply means that you have done your
part to try to deter fraud. The industry
standard for Due Diligence is a minimum
of 3 security features, with at least one being
overt (visible to the naked eye), one being
covert (invisible to the naked eye), one
being anti-alteration (making it difficult to
change the information on the check), and one
being anti-duplication (making it difficult to
photocopy). Businesses who do not exercise Due
Diligence leave themselves vulnerable to fraud,
and, perhaps more importantly, pave the way for
the bank to place the responsibility on the
business for the lost funds. In short, if you
don’t practice Due Diligence, the bank is not
likely to cover any losses that result from
fraud, on the simple grounds that you did not
take sufficient measures to prevent it from
happening. Assuming you’ve taken the trouble to
practice Due Diligence, it really makes no sense
to then print your checks with non-MICR
(regular) toner and leave yourself exposed in
that way. If you’ve incorporated ample security
features into your checks and have printed them
with MICR toner, you stand a much better chance
of being compensated by the bank should any type
of fraud take place.
So, the answer
to the question is this: No, you don’t HAVE to
use MICR toner to print your laser checks.
HOWEVER, if you want them to be processed quickly,
and if you want to protect yourself from fraud, we
highly recommend that you use MICR toner to print
your checks.
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