Some more stuff. Here’s a clip from History Channel on banking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiL0Cq7_iyI
And here’s the story of the computer that could read the MICR font.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_Accounting
ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting), was a pioneering computer development project run at SRI International under contract to Bank of America in order to automate banking bookkeeping. The project ran from 1950 to 1955.[1]
ERMA was under the technical leadership of computer scientist Jerre Noe.[2] After the project’s successful conclusion, General Electric was contracted to build 32 ERMA machines. They were so successful in operation that Bank of America was propelled ahead of other banks in profitability, and became the world’s largest bank by 1970.
The key fact that explains why ERMA and MICR had to happen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_Accounting
“In 1950, Bank of America was the largest bank in California, and led the world in the use of checks. This presented a serious problem due to the workload processing them. An experienced bookkeeper could post 245 accounts in an hour, about 2,000 in an 8-hour workday and approximately 10,000 per week. Bank of America’s checking accounts were growing at a rate of 23,000 per month and banks were being forced to close their doors by 2:00 PM to finish daily postings.”