What is CAR/LAR? As in "check on CAR/LAR supplies" or "CAR/LAR compatable"?

thanks!

I've heard it used in conjunction with payment coupons and deposit slips (CAR = Check Amount Recognition). The system recognizes certain writing on the form (like additional principal payment) and can then post properly without human intervention (that's probably an extremely simplistic view of it).

These are acronyms often used in connection with check scanning also. CAR stands for Courtesy Amount Recognition (the amount of the check written in numbers) and LAR stands for Legal Amount Recognition (the amount written in words). If a particular form of check stock is CAR/LAR compatible, that means it would be capable of being read with the check scanning software, as Cowboy Fan noted.

Ohhhhhh...that makes a lot more sense now! I'm not a newbie, but we are doing a core system conversion and I feel like one with all these acronyms flying around. Thanks for the quick responses!

Another topic that was hotly debated today is the pronunciation of MICR (magnetic ink encoded on checks.) Is it mick-UR or MY-ker?

Can you tell we really get a lot done in our conversion committee meetings?

I have been in banking since 1970 (I know, that's a long time ago!) I have always pronounced MICR as my-ker, but lately at industry conferences I am hearing more and more the mi-ker pronunciation.

I've heard it both ways for years. So long as I knew what they meant, I didn't care. But I had the same issues with lien, sometimes pronounced "len" which I thought was weird as I had heard "lean" for many years before. But so long as I had one when I was supposed to, who cared.

I think it depends on what part of the country you are in. It seems the banks in the south, and in the more rural areas around here say Len, while all us city folks say lean.
the dictionary seems to support us City folk (I tried to copy the part from the dictionary but it would show the marks.)