CC OnlineStatements,If Printed can their payslips(on bottom)be used at banks to pay?

System

The clearing centre will just encode the details themselves as they would with a cheque or BGC slip that got damaged or had a misprint.

The main thing would be getting the bank branch to pay it through their machine.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The ink used on any bill that can be paid in a bank uses ocr ink that the bank machines and clearing centres can 'read' the voucher to apply the payment.
A photocopy might go through blank meaning you have not paid - go to jail do not collect £200 + the hassle of going back to the bank to get them to sort it out.

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The ink used on any bill that can be paid in a bank uses ocr ink that the bank machines and clearing centres can 'read' the voucher to apply the payment.

It's hard to believe that they can't do this optically in the 21st century.

Also, what I see at Wiki is (The MICR E-13B font )

However, I checked one of my slips, and it's a usual font in the bottom line. I don't see how it can be easier to recognise magnetically rather than optically.

Vortigern

grumbler wrote: »

It's hard to believe that they can't do this optically in the 21st century.

I agree. Magnetic ink is old technology and OCR has improved tremendously in recent years.

If I picked up a blank bank giro credit at the counter at a bank, and used this to deposit some cash, there would be nothing recorded magnetically until somebody keyed in the sort code, account number and amount. Why can't a home printed BGC be handled the same way?

I guess the banks will say it costs too much to update the technology, or that home printed slips might come in all sorts of odd sizes.

PeacefulWaters

grumbler wrote: »

It's hard to believe that they can't do this optically in the 21st century.

I am sure they could. But it would cost.

Why offer bank giro at all in the 21st century?

chattychappy

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

It's beyond me why anybody savvy enough to receive online statements would then queue up in a branch to pay by giro.

If you want to pay cash....

And there can be many reasons (legitimate too) why you might want to pay cash.

Case in point, I have a small company in the UK. I just paid my corporation tax bill in cash at the post office. Why? Because I receive a small amount of cash in as income. If I pay cash into my business banking account, I'd pay a fee (0.5% plus a flat fee). I would then pay a further fee to pay the corporation tax online (or otherwise). No fee for paying corporation tax in cash using a giro slip at the post office.

eddddy

grumbler wrote: »

It's hard to believe that they can't do this optically in the 21st century.

Giro slips can indeed be read optically. There are two supported formats:

- OCR (Optical Character Recognition) characters
- MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) characters

However, there are strict guidelines about the paper used, the ink used and the precise position of the characters (as well as size and type of font).

I guess there is the risk that some home users would provide poorly printed, non-straight slips printed on 'Tesco value' paper - which would fail to read or jam autofeeds. (Them complain that the payment was delayed and they had to pay a late fee.)

Here's some info about it: http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/files/candc/cpas/bpg_-_bank_giro_credit_vouchers.pdf
(Scroll down to "Key Requirements for Printing BGCs")