Print & Cheques Now Inc., a Calgary-based cheque printer holding the CPA Self-Accredited Printer #1010 designation, has published a guide to Standard 006, the Payments Canada specification for cheques drawn on Canadian accounts. The guide aims to clarify technical requirements for businesses that order or print cheques in-house.
The guide explains the importance of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) encoding, which is crucial for automated processing. Standard 006 reserves a 5/8-inch band along the bottom of a cheque for MICR encoding, with strict rules about clear spaces and character placement. The lower 3/16 inch must remain clear, the encoding line occupies the next 1/4 inch, and the 3/16 inch above it must also be unobstructed. Any printing in these areas can interfere with processing.
MICR lines must be printed with magnetic ink and produce signals within specified tolerances. Character dimensions, spacing, and placement are tested. A cheque that looks fine to the eye may still fail due to magnetic signal inconsistency. Payments Canada recommends that organizations printing their own cheques submit pre-production samples to their financial institution for testing.
Print & Cheques Now's cheques include three confirmed security features: holograms, thermochromic ink, and microprinting. These features are separate from MICR requirements but must not interfere with the MICR band or required fields. The company tests its production under the self-accreditation program and offers a Bank Acceptance Guarantee, promising to reprint or refund if a financial institution rejects the cheque.
Owner Jon Gilchrist said, "Most business owners never look at the standard behind a cheque until one gets rejected. The person ordering cheques for a company is usually an accountant or an office manager, not a compliance specialist, so we wrote this guide in plain language instead of leaving that standard buried in a technical document only a printer would read."
Businesses can review business cheque options or order cheques matched to their financial institution. The company serves more than 46,000 customers across Canada and prints cheques compatible with QuickBooks, Sage 50, Xero, and Simply Accounting. Its cheques are accepted by major banks and over 200 credit unions.
