Kao Collins announced today the launch of their proprietary magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) product. The water-based ink formulation with metal oxide nanoparticles is formulated for Kyocera and HP thermal inkjet print heads and can be adapted to work in other technologies.

For check printing vendors or companies wanting to bring check printing in house to reduce costs, the Kao Collins MICR product has distinct advantages over competitors’. It features increased stability and extended shelf life due to its functionalized formulation. The metal oxide particles are stabilized in the base chemistry through the use of a surface treatment that is attached using strong chemical bonds rather than a weakly held coating, like in other ink formulations.

Todd Tritcak, Kao Collins chemist, says, “One of the problems with these inks is that the particles settle over time. Our chemistry offers better stability compared to competitors.”

The ink stability is critical for the processing of the checks. If the magnetic ink used for printing account and routing numbers on checks is misread or unreadable, check processing is delayed, with resulting costs passed along to the company that printed the check.

Kao Collins can customize their MICR ink up to a level of 40 percent magnetic content for superior character readability and to meet the higher Canadian standard. Additionally, the product is less abrasive to print heads, delivering savings over time by extending print head up times and also offers superior decap time when compared to competitors’.

MICR ink has applications beyond financial documents. For companies looking to maintain authenticity of documents, MICR ink can be used for printing verification coding.