Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) was developed to utilize the benefits of computer technology in the banking industry. Prior to the use of a MICR line, check sorting by account number was a manual process. Two systems were previously used to handle the large numbers of checks processed in the banking industry: Sort-A-Matic and Top Tab Key Sort.
The Sort-A-Matic system included 100 metal or leather dividers numbered 00 through 99. Each check was placed in the corresponding divider by the first two numbers of the account. The sorting process was then repeated for the next two digits of the account number, and so on. When the process was complete, the checks were grouped by account number.
Under the Top Tab Key Sort system, small holes punched at the top of the checks indicated the digits. For instance, the first hole indicated the value of the first digits (0, 1, 2, 3…) A metal “key” was inserted through the holes to separate all of the checks with the same value in the first digit, and this step was repeated for each digit until all the checks were sorted.
Both of these systems worked, but they were time-consuming. With the advent...
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