The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
Federal R eserve Ba n k o f N ew Yo r k N E W Y O R K 4 5 , N.Y. RECTOR 2-5 7 0 0 , March 5 196 3 Fifth Progress Report on MICR Program To All Banks in the Second Federal Reserve District: Enclosed is a copy of a press statement and its related statistical tables summarizing the results of the fifth semiannual survey undertaken to gauge the level of participation by banks throughout the nation in the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition program of The American Bankers Association. Also enclosed is a separate table showing, in greater detail, participation in the program by banks in the Second Federal Reserve District. The record of Second District banks has for the fifth successive time shown rapid improvement both as to the number of banks participating in the MICR program and as to the volume of preprinted checks that are circulated by these banks. At the present time, there are only four banks in this District that have not taken part in this program, and it is our hope that these banks will do so as quickly as possible. The current survey indicates that, of the average check volume handled daily by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 83.4 per cent of all checks now bear preprinted ABA routing numbers. This compares with 67.5 per cent six months ago and 53*0 per cent one year ago. While the level of participation has been most encouraging, the success of the MICR program depends not only on the volume of checks in circula tion with preprinted ABA routing numbers, but also, to a large degree, on the volume of checks with the dollar amounts encoded at the time they are dispatched for collection. To insure to the banking community maximum realization of the program's benefits, it is our hope that an increasing number of first banks of deposit will begin to encode the dollar amounts on checks before such checks are sent through the nation’s check collection system. ALFRED HAYES, President. Enclosures STATEMENT for the Press Federal Reserve Bank of New York New York 4-5. N.Y. REctor 2*5700 - e x t 1 5 6 No. 124 FOR RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 , 1963 The number of checks bearing magnetic ink identifications of the banks on which they are drawn now approximates almost eight in ten in comparison to five in ten one year ago, the Federal Reserve System reported today. This is the finding of the fifth semiannual survey undertaken by the Federal Reserve System to measure commercial bank progress in the MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) program of The American Bankers Association. The survey was based on a daily average of almost fourteen million checks sent by Federal Reserve Banks to 15,891 banking offices. Marcus A. Harris, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System's Subcommittee on Collections, reported that an all-time high of 78.7 per cent of all checks collected through Federal Reserve Banks contained preprinted magnetic ink symbols; this figure compares with 68.3 per cent six months ago and 54.6 per cent one year ago. Furthermore, 99*7 per cent of all banking offices receiving checks from Federal Reserve Banks have redesigned and issued some preprinted checks. The magnetic ink symbols were devised by The American Bankers Association some years ago to provide for electronic high-speed processing of checks. The fact that only about 47 banking offices in the country to which Federal Reserve Banks send checks had not begun to preprint identification symbols on their checks by last month is testimony to virtually complete acceptance of the program by the banking community, Mr. Harris said. ( MORE) 2 All the banks in eight Federal Reserve Districts are now preprinting at least some of their checks. The four exceptions are the Federal Reserve Districts of New York, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco, and in each case the number of banks that are using the magnetic ink code is -well in excess of 98 per cent. The greatest percentage of preprinted checks is now being handled in the Third (Philadelphia) District, with 86.7 per cent, followed closely by the Twelfth (San Francisco) District with 85.0 per cent and the Fourth (Cleveland) District with 84.2 per cent. The biggest improvement occurred in the Second (New York) District with an increase of 15*9 per cent since August 1962. Geographically, all banks located in 42 states and the District of Columbia are now preprinting some of their checks; the largest proportion cur rently is found in Delaware, with 95-8 per cent, followed closely by Rhode Island with 91*2 per cent, Washington with 89.5 per cent, and Oregon with 88.2 per cent. Mr. Harris commented further that it was the Federal Reserve System’s hope now that commercial banks would give serious attention to the need for encoding the dollar amount on checks placed in the collection stream. The success of the MICR program depends ultimately on the willingness of banks to promote "dollar encoding," he said. The attached tables give information on preprinted checks, by Federal Reserve District and by state, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. # # # # # # MICR PREPRINTING SURVEY BY FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS February 1963 Per Cent of Check Volume Total Daily Increase Average Check No. of Nov Since Banking Per Cent Volume PrePreAugust Offices Sent to All 1962 in Survey printing Banking Offices printed District 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 226,000 1,253,000 1 ,479,000 88.9 19.4 81.7 6.1 8.1 56* 836 892 98.2 99.6 99.6 1,086,800 1,300,500 2 ,387,300 79-2 20 163,600 672 100.0 100.0 100.0 City Country Total 29 1,171 100.0 100.0 City Country Total 29 1,091 City Country Total 7 556 563 City Country Total City Country Total 652 50 City Country Total 886 City Country Total 2,685 City Country Total 1,180 City Country Total 713 City Country Total City Country Total 936 90 2,775 85 1,265 68 781 79 1,750 1,829 70 1,100 1,170 City Country Total 143 2,545 City Country Total 726 15,165 15,891 2,688 * Excludes foreign bank agencies (O v er) 86.9 83.4 554,600 91.1 85.4 718,200 86.7 251,000 816,000 1,067,000 88.0 83.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 119,000 676,000 75-6 100.0 99.8 99.8 1,200 1,120 82.8 84.2 19-1 13-0 15*9 0 5.9 3-8 12.1 10.1 10.6 67.0 68.3 9.0 10.6 10.2 162,600 700,500 863,100 70.3 8.6 67.0 67.6 9-3 9-1 100.0 100.0 100.0 380,000 1,567,000 1 ,947,000 78.4 13*8 9 .8 100.0 100.0 100.0 135,900 67.6 61.9 63.1 100.0 100.0 100.0 175,200 100.0 99.9 99.9 140,400 100.0 99.5 99.6 102,600 74.5 565,400 6l.l 63.1 99.3 98.7 98.8 235,200 1,803,200 2 ,03§,400 99.7 3 ,178,300 10,660,600 13 ,838,900 99.7 99.7 795,000 510,500 646,400 253,300 428,500 660,600 801,000 668,000 80.7 80.2 90.5 77-4 82.8 74.6 67.9 69.1 10.7 8.2 12.5 11.5 11-3 7-7 9.1 13.9 13.2 13.4 18.4 5-4 7-3 84.8 3-9 85.O 85.O 8.0 80.7 78.1 78.7 7.5 13.6 9 .4 10.4 MICH PREPRINTING SURVEY BY STATES AND OTHER SUBDIVISIONS February 1963 No. of Banking Offices in Survey State Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming District of Columbia Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Total http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ * Excludes Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 179 43 145 122 1,620 175 138 37 299 137 83 109 998 541 721 596 375 122 98 174 197 462 297 71 585 122 420 41 66 284 85 651* 275 60 675 387 259 889 23 144 109 256 1,025 89 69 358 369 182 646 56 11 Per Cent of Total Daily Average Check Check Volume Increase Volume Per Cent Now Sent to All Pre Pre Since August 1962 printing Banking Offices printed 120,100 10.0 55-2 100.0 12,700 93-0 29.7 78.7 64,900 100.0 11.3 52.5 16,900 21.0 71.0 100.0 1 , 393,700 5-2 99.4 86.5 136,800 100.0 85.9 9.3 350,800 84.4 100.0 7-1 30,800 95-8 9-4 100.0 259,000 72.6 11.1 100.0 210,000 3-0 100.0 71.9 4,700 21.7 51-1 75.9 42,200 55-2 15.9 99.1 80.4 10.8 1,078,200 100.0 287,000 100.0 78.9 7-3 205,000 16.6 100.0 69.3 9-8 202,500 99.8 65.3 167,000 62.0 10.8 100.0 64.4 109,100 19.2 99.2 62.1 116,000 100.0 7-7 81.4 221,000 100.0 7.9 868,000 100.0 85.3 9-3 430,200 5.6 100.0 81.7 258,600 87.2 10.2 100.0 60,000 8.1 55-0 100.0 334,900 68.2 14.4 100.0 70.8 52,000 100.0 7-9 147,000 55-8 12.6 100.0 13,500 13.4 100.0 73-3 86,000 100.0 79.1 7-7 697,700 100.0 83.5 10.3 31,400 12.0 100.0 73-9 1,737,500 83.7 17.3 99.7 150,000 11.1 100.0 55.3 26,000 100.0 76.5 7 .9 699,000 100.0 84.7 10.7 199,100 100.0 65.7 12.9 88.2 143,700 9.6 100.0 85.8 843,900 100.0 5-9 68,000 91.2 100.0 7-9 63,000 52.4 100.0 14-7 42,500 8.2 100.0 76.7 182,000 67.O 100.0 8 .7 620,600 63.4 7-3 99.5 21.0 99,900 62.8 100.0 69,000 82.6 100.0 6.5 241,000 100.0 10.7 69.7 314,000 100.0 7-1 89.5 109,000 100.0 6 .9 67.9 28.4 182,200 78.2 100.0 8,000 100.0 62.5 12.5 14.0 64.0 25,000 100.0 16 87.5 7,800 58.7 2 O.3 15,891 99.7 13,838,900 78.7 10.4 foreign bank agencies. SECOND DISTRICT MICR PREPRINTING SURVEY BY STATES AND COUNTIES February 1963 Banking Offices to Which Checks are Sent by FRBNY New York City Bronx Kings New York Queens Richmond Total New York State Albany Allegany Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego 1 5 40* 3 0 Per Cent Pre printing 100.0 100.0 97.5 66.7 12 3,797 991,131 10,989 - 0 49 95-9 1 ,005,929 5 15 9 14 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 88,694 3,749 13,644 4,066 5,573 3,758 6,452 2,935 4,554 1,634 2,204 6,207 22,551 37,663 2,145 8 16 4 4 4 2 5 12 14 36 4 6 6 8 5 1 7 14 6 6 7 9 .7 64 11 14 15 7 20 4 9 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 * Excludes foreign bank agencies Total Daily Average Check Volume Sent to All Banking Offices (Over) Per Cent of Check Volume Increase Now Since August Pre printed 1962 91-7 87.3 78.7 59-5 1-7 - 25.2 19.6 2.8 - 78.5 19.4 99.2 31.6 80.2 12.5 19.4 8 .7 90.7 79.8 92.0 88.2 94.0 86.2 85.6 88.7 85-4 11.8 11.2 22.0 15-2 16.6 7.1 10.4 43.2 4,218 83.7 92.0 92.0 90.0 87.8 80.6 89.1 87.8 366 46.7 2,402 5,820 85.7 85.3 1,735 2,013 4,362 79-1 89.1 93-2 1 0 ,5 6 1 8 6 .1 1 2 .6 6,470 134,995 4,855 92.9 91.4 91.3 7*8 8-5 9.2 16,610 90.8 19.2 19.6 2 ,82& 3,251 2,658 3 0 ,9 8 6 90.3 3,743 80.2 21,060 79-9 1,004 4,969 95.8 85.9 1 2 .2 4.4 17.3 18.1 15.6 8 .0 9-6 23-3 1 1 .6 18.1 23.0 9.9 9-9 5-4 7-5 3.6 14.9 Banking Offices Per Cent to Which Pre Checks are Sent by FRBNY printing New York State (Cont’d) Otsego Putnam Rensselaer Rockland St. Lawrence Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Wyoming Yates Total Daily Average Check Volume Sent to All Banking Offices Per Cent of Check Volume Increase Since Now August Pre 1962 printed 5,665 2,846 6,192 13,109 9,079 83.3 89.2 1 0 .1 93-0 1 0 .1 1 2 .1 3 ,8 1 2 8 1 .6 7,859 965 1,063 1,836 6,323 56,614 91.1 71.0 90.6 89.2 85.2 91.5 83.8 90.6 76.8 90.0 78.1 76.4 8 6 .9 2 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 91,657 2,161 859 83.6 62.3 14.1 13.7 5.9 •5 602 1 0 0 .0 731,617 90.8 14-3 651 99-7 1 ,737,546 83.7 17.3 42 100.0 100.0 92.1 5-1 73.8 12.9 16.2 10 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0 .0 77,016 112,499 79,986 7,576 45,415 31,018 38,765 40,016 17,538 8,647 96,867 7,817 197 1 0 0 .0 Connecticut Fairfield 28 1 0 0 .0 Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico 16 892 Total Total New York City and State New Jersey Bergen Essex Hudson Hunterdon Middlesex Monmouth Morris Passaic Somerset Sussex Union Warren Total Total Second District 12 4 6 8 17 5 5 2 4 5 14 52 11 6 4 15 8 7 10 18 9 26 13 7 25 20 10 7 8 6 23 11.5 91.7 81.7 5,959 3,348 6,754 19,686 5,213 3,309 6,573 93-5 82.9 87.1 86.6 " 8574 " 14.8 24.4 4.6 4.2 10.7 11-7 11-7 10.5 8 .6 6 .1 22.3 4.2 18.2 16.8 14.2 11.6 21.0 90.6 5-1 93-5 86.9 6 .9 13-8 11.3 13-7 7-3 563,160 82.2 11.9 78,814 89.1 12.2 87.5 7,775 58.7 20.8 99.6 2,387,295 83-4 15.9 92.0 88.2 69.7
@FedFRASER