Anyone planning for printing checks at home has a lot of questions in mind. First things which comes in our mind is, is it legal. Then it comes to our mind, how to do that. How to format the text. What kind of paper we need. Which font to use. What kind of Ink is used. Do you need any special printer to print it. And in last what all information is needed to write a check.
If you are thinking why to bother there are multiple reasons. A little check printing setup and you can achieve multiple goals at once. When we start looking curiously at reasons to print your own checks, First few reasons we find are listed below :
1. Economical – In long run, printing your own checks saves you money. And the intensity of savings grows on your frequency of uses. If you write too many checks it is advisable to print checks to minimise cost of checks. This is the main reason behind every big corporation printing their own checks.
2. Integrated Planning – When numbers of check is increased, your financial responsibility is increased too. Check printing is easily integrated in your financial planning. It gives you enough hold on your finances as well as flexibility to operate more freely. There are options available to print checks in almost every modern accounting software.
3. Automation – Filling manual checks is something not everyone likes when they are in big numbers. Once your setup is ready you can easily handle big numbers of Different accounts. Best part is you can do it even more effectively. Manual writing of checks generates a lot of human error which is pretty much understandable.
4.Brand Building – The best part about printing checks is it increases your brand authority. A self printed check carries visual identity with it. It is one of the most important foundation of your brand building. When you start printing checks you automatically are capable of printing envelops and deposit slips. All together this increases the feeling of legitimacy in your business.
Major Components Needed For Printing checks
Check Printing Software – While writing your own checks bad handwriting and time consumption are major hurdles you face. With a check writing software you can easily handle the issue. Automation saves your time as well as makes your check more professional. Now to use your Laser, Inkjet or dot matrix printer you need a software. If you are already using accounting software like quickbook, you don’t need any external software. These external softwares are easily available in the market and some of them are even free.
If you are already a user of accounting softwares like quickbooks, you are covered.
If you are not using any software you should use it.
All you have to do is find the software which fits in your criteria. You should start with free check printing softwares, Chrysanth Cheque Writer is an excellent option to start with. It’s adviced to do a test run on a same size paper of cheque. Even better if you do it on a scanned exact replica. To create the replica you can scan and print it on paper. Cut the paper in exact same size of cheque and you are ready to go. Such test runs will help you in finding the perfect software. Which fits the criteria of allignment of your bank.
Check Stock Paper – Legally you can print your check on any paper. However It is always advised to use special paper with proper security features. Check stock papers are designed with only one purpose, Printing checks. Most printers and softwares are compatible with it.
Most important reason to use check stock paper is to maximize fraud protection. Check fraud is a very old problem and is not going away in future either. No one is immune to check frauds.
Based on threat perception and value of the check you can choose your check stock paper. The papers are generally divided into two parts.
1. High Security check stock paper
2. General Check stock Paper
To understand the differences we have to have a look at the security features used by companies to stop the check fraud.
Security Features
Thermochromic Ink – Thermochromic Ink is a type of Ink that changes colour when temperature increases or decreases. These Inks are used to create Logo, Icons or Texts. When you touch them, it changes colour from the heat of your finger. When cooled down the original colours are back. This provides immediate authentication for the payee.
Copy Void Pantograph – First attempt in fraud comes from scanning or photocopying the checks. Copy Void Panto-graph exploits the limitations of copying equipment. It resists the copying attempts by putting custom messages like ‘VOID’,’COPY’ in the background. These messages are hidden from normal eyes. When photocopied or scanned the low-pass filter reacts differently to small dark dots in field of lighter dots. That reaction results in custom messages clearly visible in copied documents.
Chemical Sensitivity – Fraudsters are often found using chemicals like solvents, acids, bleaches, etc to temper with cheques. Chemical sensitivity puts an end on any fraudlent alterations by chemicals. The results are clearly visible even after slightest attempt of alteration.
Watermark – Watermarks are another standard security feature adopted by financial Institutions to stop frauds. When these almost invisible watermarks are exposed to light from a certain angle they become visible. These watermarks also foil any attmept of scanning or photo copying the cheque. They are sometimes visible from one side and sometimes from both sides, depending on type of watermark.
Fluorescent Fiber – Another interesting standard high security feature is use of fluorescent fiber. This feature stops stolen cheques from being misused. These fibers are invisible for normal eyes in normal light. But under UV light they glow and are visible. These features cannot be reproduced by forgers, thus they add an extra security layer to your cheques.
Coin-Reactive Mark – Coin-Reactive Marks are made up of coin-reactive ink. These marks are not visible to normal eyes and they can’t be copied or scanned. Such marks are only visible when they are rubbed with a coin. This feature is quite resourceful in fields where access to ultra violet lamps are limited.
UV security Ink – Ultra Violet Inks are used in securing documents from a long time. Recent development of technology has brought inexpensive UV Ink detectors and mainstreamed them. UV Security Ink is also invisible to naked eyes. When they are exposed to UV light the desired message or Logo appears to naked eyes.
UV security fiber – UV fibers are pre-added in the cheque papepr. These fibers look normal under normal lightings. When they are exposed to Ultra Violet light they change their colour. They are pre-added in the cheque paper hence it is impossible for forgers to copy it with any method.
Microprinting – Microprinting is most common anti-counterfeiting technique used globally. In this method a pattern or character is printed so small that to normal eyes, it appears as a solid line. It can only be read under magnification. When it’s scanned or copied the text becomes a solid line.
MICR – MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. It’s a technology used by banking industry to speed up the process of clearence of cheques. It is readable by common eyes and uses special fonts like E-13B and CMC-7. MICR uses special magnetizable ink which is also often called magnetic ink. The ink usually contains iron oxide which helps MICR reader in detection of the characters. MICR head is a device similar to Payback head of a tape recorder. When characters are read through MICR head, they produce a unique waveform which is identified by the system. Limitation of characters and unique method of reading it makes the whole process error free and fast.
Printer – Not every printer can print MICR codes. Only printers which are capable in handling MICR Ink or MICR toner can do the job. Technically both Inkjet and Laser Printer can print MICR codes. Inkjet printers due to their slow speed is generally avoided. Print volume and speed are the major factors when choosing between Inkjet and Laser printer for cheques.
You can check our list of Printers for Printing checks here.
Is printing cheques with MICR Ink or Toner necessary?
Federal reserve and all banks have adopted MICR to speed up the processing of Cheque handling. It benefits the end user as it speeds up the process and chances of cheque rejection is decreased.