ST9510 Secure MICR Printer User’s Guide Source Technologies 2910 Whitehall Park Drive Charlotte, NC 28273 www.sourcetech.com techsupport@sourcetech.com 800-922-8501 2006, Source Technologies All rights reserved.
This manual serves as a reference for Source Technologies Secure MICR Printer. This manual should be used as a reference for learning more about MICR technology, and developing MICR printing applications. This guide was produced to assist IS Technicians and Engineers in the integration of Source Technologies’ programmed printers with their custom MICR applications. The guide also contains information on MICR related error messages that post to the operator panel.
Table of Contents 1. Printer Installation....................................................................5 2. MICR Overview .........................................................................6 The Check Processing System .............................................6 MICR Printing Today.............................................................6 3. MICR Check Design .................................................................8 General Features of Check Design................................
8. MICR Commands Examples....................................................26 PJL Unlock Sequence...........................................................26 PCL Initial Setup ...................................................................26 PCL Macro Call .....................................................................26 PCL Font Calls, Position Commands, & Variable .................26 PJL Re-lock Sequence .........................................................27 Figure 8.
1. Printer Installation For complete information on how to unpack and setup your printer, see your printer’s user’s guide. Please read the following if you are going to install the printer driver shipped with your printer. 1. Locate the CD that was shipped with your printer. Note: If you do not have a CD-ROM drive on the host PC, locate another computer with a CD-ROM drive, start the CD-ROM utility, and then follow the instructions on the screen to create printer driver diskettes. 2.
2. MICR Overview MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. All MICR documents have a MICR line with numbers and symbols printed in a MICR font with magnetically chargeable toner. Each character of the MICR font has a unique waveform when sensed magnetically. Financial institutions and the Federal Reserve use the MICR line to identify and sort checks.
The key standards that address check documents are as follows: ANSI X9.7 Specifications for Bank Check Background and Convenience Amount Field ANSI X9.13 Specifications for Placement and Location of MICR Printing ANSI X9.18 Paper Specifications for Checks ANSI X9.
3. MICR Check Design General Features of Check Design To be a legal and negotiable document, the necessary elements required on a check are the date, amount, payee, drawee institution, and payer’s signature. Other elements included in a good check design are: the amount in words, account title, check serial number, fractional routing number and MICR line. A good check design contains security features and is formatted to be easily read by both machines and the human eye.
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.
Payee Area The payee is a necessary element for a negotiable document. The payee area is generally to the left side of the document either above or below the amount in words. It is often preceded by the words “Pay to the Order Of.” The payee data should not enter the MICR clear band which extends 5/8 of an inch above the bottom of the check. Signature Area A signature is a required element for a negotiable document.
MICR Line Accurate high-speed processing of your checks by financial institutions is enabled by the accuracy and integrity of the data in the MICR line. Refer to figure 3.1 for the location of the following MICR line fields. The MICR line is read from right to left with position one being the right most position proceeding to position sixty-five on the left. The MICR line must be printed at exactly eight characters per inch.
Figure 3.1: Sample Check A. Serial Number: Must be in the upper right corner and match the serial number in the MICR line (see D for further explanation). B. Fractional Routing Transit Number: Should be in the upper right corner and must match the routing transit number in the MICR line with the exception of the state prefix number (ex. 66 = NC, 67 = SC, 64 = GA, etc.) and the preceding zeros. C. Bank Name, State, City: The bank logo is optional.
4. Quality Issues A high quality MICR document can be read by bank reader/sorter equipment many times with no readability issues and does not result in damage to bank equipment. This quality is the result of a well designed printer, an originally manufactured MICR toner cartridge and high quality check stock. Printer Features Your Secure MICR Printer is equipped with some features to ensure high quality MICR documents. Paper Type Paper type settings, if selected through a driver, are set in the printer.
Quality Quality MICR check printing with your ST Secure MICR Printer requires check stock that matches the printer’s requirements. Source Technologies can supply paper specifically made for our printers. If you wish to order check stock from other suppliers, please show the following requirements to your sales representative. We will test other suppliers’ paper for a nominal fee. Layout Layout your check design before any paper is purchased or layout your design to existing check stock.
5. Security Issues Printing negotiable documents from blank paper on desktop MICR laser printers makes security a top priority for any company embarking on a desktop check printing project. Good security programs integrate hardware, software, your employees and your financial institution into a secure check production system. Recent changes relative to the responsibilities of banks and their customers have a bearing on the ultimate liability for fraudulent documents.
The following internal and external security measures will help minimize your risk of check fraud. 1. Financial institutions should train tellers to look at the check, not the person presenting the check. The check, not the person, is the item that must be verified. 2. Firms accepting checks should be aware of damaged MICR lines. Intentionally damaging the MICR line can increase the time necessary to process an item, giving the forger enough time to leave town.
10. Stay abreast of current check fraud methods and the latest in fraud detection. Offer seminars to educate corporate clients. 11. Review and document your internal negotiable document printing procedures. Investigate employee backgrounds before assigning security authority. Split responsibilities, for example, an accounts payable production/security officer should not also balance the account.
6. MICR Features Source Technologies’ Secure MICR Printer is designed to allow both general office document printing and secure MICR document printing. You may print a variety of conventional jobs with MICR toner using all of the printer features available. These printers come standard with PCL5e, PCL6, and PostScript Level 2 emulation. Source Technologies has designed features to enhance the base printer for MICR specific printing that allows you to securely print high quality negotiable documents.
eye. This font provides protection against reproduction by most scanners and copiers because they cannot successfully print the tiny letters. Most check printers use this font in the signature area of their preprinted checks. We recommend using this font to help deter check fraud. The text in this font can either be fixed, such as the name of your organization, or it can be variable, such as the check amount and payee name.
7. MICR Commands The following are the key PJL and PCL commands required to access MICR resources in the printer. For the complete source of information on PJL and PCL languages, consult the Lexmark Technical Reference documentation. PJL MICRJOB Each MICR printing job should include in the initial string of PJL commands, the MICRJOB command. The command forces copy count = 1, and Jam Recovery = off.
PJL Re-Lock Sequence With A New Password Value %-12345X@PJL DEFAULT LRESOURCE:”flash:” LRWLOCK=”xxxxxxxx” (0D)(0A)%-12345X This command requires the resources to be previously unlocked. The new password is represented by the value xxxxxxxx. The UEL is again optional but recommended. After consulting Lexmark Technical Reference materials you may wish to expand the PJL sequences to include more than the examples above.
1. If you are using a printer driver that is set to 600 DPI, the printer data stream should include a Unit of Measure PCL command set to 600. The command is &u600D 2. If the application controls the printer data stream, add the Unit of Measure command early in the data stream. The command also affects X & Y positioning commands. Add &u600D 3. After calling the E-13B MICR font, issue a HMI (Horizontal Motion Index) command set to 8 characters per inch.
• • • • • • • • • • Printer State “Ready” is the expected return Serial Number = Printer Serial Number Page Count = Printer Page Count Cartridge Type “MICR” is the expected return. “Normal” could mean the command was sent to a non-MICR printer Cartridge Status “OK, Low, and Empty” are the expected returns. “Unknown” is possible if the cartridge had just been installed.
Error Messages A majority of the printer error conditions are documented in the User’s manual for the printer. The following are additional error conditions related to the ST Secure MICR printer. Toner Low The printer will stop with Error and Press Button lights on at the first indication of toner being low. Press the button and the printer will return to Ready and continue printing. The Toner Low light will be on steady.
Ready / Data Off Toner Low On Load Paper Off Paper Jam Off Error On Blue Button Off The following light pattern indicates the cartridge is not supported in this specific printer. Replace with a supported cartridge type.
8. MICR Command Example Figure 8.1, is an illustration of an Accounts Payable check and remittance information. The page used a PCL MACRO for the static data and background design. This manual does not address MACRO design and programming, but the variable text information including all the PJL and PCL commands used to print the example are on the page following the sample check. For illustrative purposes there are some extra spaces in the text preceding the printable data.
PJL Re-Lock Sequence The last two lines re-lock the secured fonts. The password is not changed in this example. FIGURE 8.
PJL and PCL commands used to print the sample check: %-12345X@PJL LDECLARE LRESOURCE:"flash:" LRWLOCK="PASSWORD" @PJL MICRJOB @PJL ENTER LANGUAGE = PCL &l2a1h6d1e64F &u600D &f100y3X (s4099t0b10H *p300x600Y xxxxxxxxx xx/xx/xxxx $x,xxx.xx *p300x2775Y xxxxxxxxx xx/xx/xxxx $x,xxx.xx 3% 3% $x,xxx.xx $x,xxx.
Appendix A: E13B MICR Font Mapping MICR Font Description Character Alpha/Numeric Values1 Hex Values / Amount Symbol Aa / 41 61 2F : Transit Symbol T t B b : 54 74 42 62 3A ; On-Us Symbol OoCc ; 4F 6F 43 63 3B = Dash Symbol VvDd-= 56 76 44 64 2D 3D 0 Zero 0 30 1 One 1 31 2 Two 2 32 3 Three 3 33 4 Four 4 34 5 Five 5 35 6 Six 6 36 7 Seven 7 37 8 Eight 8 38 9 Nine 9 39 Example: ‘”;0001234;:01234567:3210987654321; 1Select only one alphanumeric characte
Appendix B: Secure Numeric Font Mapping Description Alpha/Numeric Character Hex Value Dollar Sign $ 23 Left Bracket ( 28 Right Bracket ) 29 Asterisk * 2A Comma , 2C Dash - 2D Period .
Appendix B continued: Secure Numeric Font Mapping Description Alpha/Numeric Character Hex Value Five 5 35 Six 6 36 Seven 7 37 Eight 8 38 Nine 9 39 Arrow > 3E Secure Font Character Example: NOTE: The secure fonts in the example are magnified for purposes of clarity.
Appendix C: ICR Secure Numeric Font Mapping Description Alpha/Numeric Character Hex Value Zero 0 30 One 1 31 Two 2 32 Three 3 33 Four 4 34 Five 5 35 Six 6 36 Seven 7 37 Eight 8 38 Nine 9 39 Asterisk * 2A Comma , 2C Period . 2E Dollar Sign $ 23 Character NOTE: The secure fonts in the example are magnified for purposes of clarity.
Appendix D: CMC7 MICR Font Mapping Description Alpha/Numeric Characters Hex Values Values1 Zero 0 30 One 1 31 Two 2 32 Three 3 33 Four 4 34 Five 5 35 Six 6 36 Seven 7 37 Eight 8 Nine 9 39 Colon : 3A ST Secure MICR Printer User’s Guide March 2006 CMC7 Font 38 33 2006, Source Technologies All Rights Reserved
Semi-Colon ; 3B Less Than < 3C Equal = 3D Greater Than > 3E 1The CMC7 Font in the example above is magnified for purposes of clarity.