2.5. Check Readers and Scanners

Class Name CHK

Class Identifier WFS_SERVICE_CLASS_CHK = 5

This service class is currently defined only for attended branch service.

The WOSA/XFS check reader service defines the general interface for the following functions:

• Reading encoded fields on a check, using Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) or Optical Character Recognition (OCR), or both;

• Encoding fields on a check, using MICR or OCR fonts, or both;

• Endorsing checks on either side, or both sides;

• Acquiring an image of either side of the check, or both sides;

• Sorting a check into one of several pockets.

This allows handling of devices with a range of features, from small hand-held read-only devices through which checks are manually swiped one at a time, to much larger tabletop devices which automatically feed checks by the batch past a reader, an encoder, an endorser, an optional image scanner, to be sorted into one of several pockets. The high end device of this class usually found in bank branches share many capabilities with the still larger devices usually found only in a bank’s central data processing, known as high-speed reader/sorters, but the latter are not specifically addressed in the current revision of the specifications.

Typical fields found encoded on a check include the bank ID number and the account number. Part of the processing done by the bank is to also encode the amount on the check, usually done by having an operator enter the hand-written or typewritten face amount on a numeric keypad, or by courtesy amount readers.