Method of providing an indication of quality of a document image and an apparatus therefor

An apparatus for processing a check, the apparatus comprising:

• means for storing apriori data which is representative of certain features of the check;
• means for receiving image data which is representative of an image of the check;
• means for reading pre-printed account number from a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) codeline associated with the check image date wherein the account number has been pre-printed on the check before issuance of the check;
• means for retrieving the stored apriori data based upon the pre-printed account number which has been read from the MICR codeline associated with the check image data;
• means for comparing a portion of the check image data with the retrieved apriori data;
• and
• means for providing a status signal indicative of check image quality which is other than fraud of the check based upon the comparison of the portion of the check image data with the retrieved apriori data.

A method of providing an indication of document image quality which is other than fraud of a document, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) storing apriori data which is representative of a line contained in at least one field associated with the document;
• (b) receiving image data which is representative of the image of the document;
• (c) reading a pre-printed account number from a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) codeline associated with the document image data, wherein the account number has been pre-printed on the check before issuance of the check
• (d) retrieving the stored apriori data based upon the pre-printed account number which has been read from the MICR codeline associated with the document image data;
• (e) comparing a portion of the document image data with the retrieved apriomi data;
• (f) providing a status signal indicative of document image quality which is other than fraud of the document based upon the comparison of the portion of the document image data with the retrieved apriori data;
• and
• (g) processing the status signal to alert an operator of the document image quality which is other than fraud of the document being below a predetermined threshold.

An apparatus for providing an indication of document image quality which is other than fraud of a document, the apparatus comprising:

• means for storing apriori data which is representative of alphanumeric text contained in at least one field associated with the document;
• means for receiving image data which is representative of the image of the document;
• means for reading an a pre-printed account number from a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) codeline associated with the document image data, wherein the account number has been pre-printed on the check before issuance of the check;
• means for retrieving the stored apriori data based upon the pre-printed account, number which has been read from the MICR codeline associated with the document image data;
• means for comparing a portion of the document image data with the retrieved apriori data;
• means for providing a status signal indicative of the document image quality which is other than fraud of the document based upon the comparison of the portion of the document image data with the retrieved apriori data;
• and
• means for processing the status signal to alert an operator of the document image quality which is other than fraud of the document being below a predetermined threshold.