I landed in this group when somebody following a 2002 thread went to our web page. The reason MICR toner is necessary to print checks (from scratch), using a check printing program, is that it intensifies the magnetic properties on the OCR lines (bank routing info, etc.) on the program. However, it isn't that expensive. If you check our website at
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you'll find generic MICR toners that are only a few dollars more than regular. You cannot predict which type of check system your checks will end up with. The national systems use super high speed sorters that rely on magnetic toners for the high speed. To risk multiple check rejection (and bank charges) for the extra $10 or $20 per cartridge (which prints thousands of checks) for MICR toner, isn't too bright. Nobody buys check printing software unless they do multiple checks.