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I ordered checks from my financial institution, and I got back ones that looked like this:
What struck me as odd was that the entire thing, including the bottom machine-readable part, seems like a low-quality inkjet print, not the laser-like kind of MICR print I've seen before.
So I'm curious as to whether it is in fact using magnetic ink, so that if I try to use it later and it isn't accepted, I know whether this might be the cause. Is there an easy way to tell?
If you ordered the checks from your bank, it probably has magnetic ink, because that is the standard. The visual print quality of the MICR line is not an indication of whether or not magnetic ink was used, because bad quality printing can occur no matter which type of ink is used.
However, it is my understanding that most modern check reading devices are optical and don't require magnetic ink. Our business has been printing our own checks using standard toner for years and has never had a complaint from any bank or vendor.
