With so many different formats of laser checks and printed laser checks, just how do I decide which laser check is right for me?

The first thing you need to consider when ordering laser checks is whether or not your software can print a MICR (Magnetically encoded character recognition) line at the bottom of the laser check. The MICR line generally contains three pieces of information, the bank routing number, your account number, and the check number. This MICR line is scanned by the banks' (or merchants') processing equipment so that these numbers do not have to be entered manually from the laser check. The characters used to print a MICR line must be printed with specialized inks or toners that contain fine iron particles that allow the MICR line to be distinguished from the rest of the check, and then properly read by the MICR processing equipment. The MICR line of a laser check must be positioned and spaced with great precision, or read errors will result, and the bank or merchant will have to enter the numbers manually. SecureChecks.com, guarantees that your check will be readable by your bank's processing equipment, or we will reprint your checks at no charge. Many, popular software products including Quickbooks, Quicken, and Peachtree do not offer the capability to print a MICR line; therefor, if your software does not print the MICR line, you will want to order printed laser checks.

SecureChecks.com offers many different preprinted laser check formats, for virtually every software provider, including Quickbooks, Quicken and Peachtree. If you do not see your vendor listed in the preprinted order form, simply call us at 800-577-4169 and we will be happy to find the laser check format you need. When you buy printed laser checks, the check can be completed via your software and a common inkjet printer.

If your software is indeed capable of printing on a completely blank laser check, then you have the option of ordering blank laser checks. All of the blank laser checks (and preprinted laser checks) sold by SecureChecks.com are Check 21 compliant. This basically means that not only is the check magnetically scanable, but it is also optically scanable. This is now very important, since more and more banks and merchants are optically scanning and storing the laser checks image for both record keeping and normal processing. You may have noticed that a check that you wrote to pay a bill is being processed via ACH (Automated clearing house), electronically, even though you sent in a paper check. This is part of the new rules, that allow merchants to "Truncate" a check, which means to process it electronically, truncating the rest of the path the paper instrument would normally take. When the merchant receives the check, an image is taken. That stored image along with its associated information is used to pay your bill, debit your account and then depending on your banks procedures, may be used on your bank statement. Check 21 compliant checks must be easily read and processed by the optical scanning equipment, to insure accuracy and efficiency. If you have a suitable laser printer and MICR toner for your printer, and your software is able to print the MICR line on blank laser checks, this generally results in a lower cost per printed check, since blank laser check stock is cheaper than printed laser checks. Please note, you cannot use an ink jet printer to produce a magnetically scannable MICR line. The ink used by ink jet printers do not contain iron.

Another reason to buy blank laser checks, and often considered to be the most compelling reason, is the fact that you can easily print laser checks for multiple accounts, without having to switch the laser check stock in the printer. It is important to know however; this capability can also introduce a security risk, in that someone may gain access to your check printing software, and quickly print a check on one of your accounts, possibly using a check number that would not alert you until much later when you balance your checkbook. Software programs that use preprinted laser checks, normally keep up with the next check number, and every check number printed, and when a check is printed out of order, the preprinted check on the right hand of the laser check stamped by the producer of the laser check, will not match the check number being printed by your software, quickly alerting you that a check is missing.

When you order laser checks from SecureChecks, you can expect high quality blank or preprinted laser checks at very reasonable prices, delivered amazingly quick. We take great pride in our products and service! If you order your printed laser checks in the morning, and authorize the printing of your laser check order, we will generally print and ship your laser check order the same day, and we do this day after day, at a fraction of the price you would expect to pay to have your bank produce the same check, which you would then have to wait on for weeks.

The laser check paper, used by SecureChecks.com, is of course, secure. Many security features are present in every check produced by SecureChecks.com. These security features help prevent check fraud and are an important factor in choosing the right laser check supplier. Don't take security for granted, many check printers have opted to use lower quality, low security papers to save a few dollars. We do not share that philosophy and only print on high quality, secure papers. For more information on our security features click here to see the article on Check Security and Features.

To sum it all up. SecureChecks.com is and about –

Place your order today, we know you'll be happy you did!