The new age digital scanning technology has made the labour intensive process of check process less time consuming and highly efficient. The modern day digital check scanners have automated the check processing and contributed to the efficiency. But how does digital scanning really work for the checks?
There are two elements to the check scanning technology. There is the hardware that operates as a device that captures high resolution images of the check. The other part is the software that does the analysis of the image and then puts it through processing.
Hardware Part
The scanners have a set of tiny light detectors fixed in a straight line. These detectors get activated when the check is passed from under them in a bright light. Once turned on, they convert the light variations into digital information which is then converted into a high resolution digital image. This digital image is then sent to the relevant computer for processing and filing purposes.
Software Part
The software part of the scanners is in fact the more complicated aspect because it involves multiple analysis requirements.
- Handwriting Recognition: The software has to read the image and identify the numerical values with the punctuation marks. This value then has to be converted into a dollar value. This is the more difficult part because the handwriting of each person is different.
- MICR Code Conversion: Each check has a MICR code stated at the bottom which contains the account code and bank routing number. The software has to read and decipher this information for the computer to do the processing.
- Validation Process: The software has to do the validation process for values, the routing number format, etc. to ensure that the check gets processed accurately. If there is an error in the information, then the check won’t get processed.