APACS Approved MICR Printers

APACS is the UK trade asscociation for payments and for those institutions that deliver payment services to customers.

APACS provides the forum for the UK's financial institutions to come together on non-competitive issues, to develop banking systems for the future and to provide innovation and developments in payments. It is also the banking industry voice on payments issues such as plastic cards, card fraud, cheques, electronic payments and cash.

Audit & Security

Risk controls are of practical value only if their everyday use is regularly checked and procedures are monitored and improved in the light of experience and changes in practice. APACS audit function can provide such independent assurance enabling payment systems to ensure that their controls are in place and operating effectively.

Sophisticated security measures help ensure that customer transactions are authentic and that confidentiality is maintained. In conjunction with other countries and with the authorities APACS are working with internet service providers and software companies to maintain customer protections on channels like internet banking.

Standards & Interoperability

APACS works through UK and international standards bodies to agree and implement common standards across the industry. This enables processes to be streamlined, reducing the risk of manual errors. It also sets the foundation for tomorrow's payment systems which will need to be European or global in their reach.

Standards cover nearly all areas of banking. For example, the layout of certain field on a cheque, e.g. the amount box, the code line, the signature field are all laid down in APACS Standard 3. Other fields, such as the bank name (font size/type, colour), are left to the discretion of the issuing bank.

Comprehensive List of APACS Approved Printers

Always use UK Bank approved MICR toner cartridges APACS approved security cheque paper for all base stock cheque supplies. Latest additions of APACS approved printers include the following HP LaserJets:

9000 & 9000 MFP 8150 & 8150 MFP 8100 & 8100 MFP 4300 & 4350 4200 & 4250 4100 & 4100 MFP 4000 & 4050 2420

HP LaserJet 4350 series

Print Speed Monthly Duty Cycle Max. Resolution Language Simulation RAM installed Media Types Media Sizes Media Weights Typefaces installed Detailled Specification

Up to 52 ppm (A4, B/W) 250000 pages 1200 ´ 1200 dpi PCL 5E, PostScript 3, PCL 6, PDF 1.3 64 MB / 512 MB max. Envelopes, transparencies, labels, plain paper A4, Letter, Legal, Executive, B5, A5, envelopes (C5, DL, B5) 60 g/m2 - 200 g/m2 80 HP Font set (plus Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Arabic)

HP LaserJet 4250 series

Print Speed Monthly Duty Cycle Max. Resolution Language Simulation RAM installed Media Types Media Sizes Media Weights Typefaces installed Detailled Specification

Up to 43 ppm (A4, B/W) 200000 pages 1200 ´ 1200 dpi PCL 5E, PostScript 3, PCL 6, PDF 1.3 48 MB / 512 MB max. Envelopes, transparencies, labels, plain paper A4, Letter, Legal, Executive, B5, A5, envelopes (C5, DL, B5) 60 g/m2 - 200 g/m2 80 HP Font set (plus Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Arabic)

HP LaserJet 2420 series

Print Speed Monthly Duty Cycle Max. Resolution Language Simulation RAM installed Media Types Media Sizes Media Weights Typefaces installed Detailled Specification

Up to 28 ppm (A4, B/W) 75000 pages 1200 ´ 1200 dpi PCL 5E, PostScript 3, PCL 6, PDF 1.3 32 MB / 512 MB max. Envelopes, transparencies, labels, plain paper A4, Letter, Legal, Executive, B5, A5, envelopes (C5, DL, B5) 60 g/m2 - 200 g/m2 80 HP Font set (plus Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Arabic)

Detailled Specification LJ 4350


Detailled Specification LJ 4250


Detailled Specification LJ 2420



Useful background information:

APACS Purchasing and maintenance recommendations for laser printers
Cheques and Cheque Clearing - The Facts
Glossary Banking Terms