Testing your checks to make sure the MICR line is with in standards is very important. Because a machine sorts the checks, a very narrow margin of error is allowed. If your checks fail to meet the MICR line specifications then the checks are rejected by the machine and have to be sorted by manually. Manually possessing checks costs the banks more money with is then passed on to you in the way of surcharges. Surcharges can rage from $1.00 to $10.00 for each check. With this in mind, it is easy to see how the expense of not testing your checks can add up quickly.

As and example consider the following:
One known corporation was passing checks not meeting the MICR line specification to the tune of approximately $8,000.00 in return check fees a month. Because the MICR line was not being read correctly, the bank had to manually process these checks. The bank then passed an inflated surcharge on to the company based on the large volume of checks being rejected.