Infrared and visible imaging of documents

A method for handling a payment item having a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)-line, the method comprising:

• generating, using visible light, a front image of the front of said payment item;
• processing said front image using one or more image processing techniques;
• performing optical character recognition on said processed front image to identify data encoded in said MICR-line;
• determining a level of confidence in identification of said data from said optical character recognition performed on said processed front image;
• generating, using infrared light, an infrared image of the front of said payment item or of a portion of the front of said payment item containing the MICR-line;
• performing optical character recognition on said infrared image to identify said data encoded in said MICR-line,
• wherein performing optical character recognition on said infrared image is done only if said level of confidence is less than a predetermined threshold.

A system for handling a payment item having a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)-line, the system comprising:

• a first imaging device to generate, using visible light, a front image of the front of said payment item and a back image of the back of said payment item;
• a second imaging device to generate, using infrared light, an infrared image of a portion of the front of said payment item containing the MICR-line, wherein the portion is less than the front of said payment item and includes the MICR-line;
• and
• a computer-readable medium storing software to be executed on a computer that is coupled via a communication link to said first imaging device and to second imaging device, wherein said software is configured to control said computer to receive said front image and said back image via said communication link and to receive said infrared image via said communication link and to
• perform optical character recognition on said front image to identify data encoded in said MICR-line,
• determine a level of confidence in identification of said data from said optical character recognition performed on said front image, and
• perform optical character recognition on said infrared image of the portion to identify data encoded in said MICR-line only if said level of confidence is less than a predetermined threshold.

A system for handling a payment item having a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)-line, the system comprising:

• an imaging device to generate, using visible light a front image of the front of said payment item and a back image of the back of said payment item, and to generate, using infrared light, an infrared image of a portion of the front of said payment item containing the MICR-line, wherein the portion is less than the front of said payment item and includes the MICR-line;
• and
• a computer-readable medium storing software to be executed on a computer that is coupled via a communication link to said imaging device, wherein said software is configured to control said computer to receive said front image and said back image via said communication link and to receive said infrared image via said communication link and to
• perform optical character recognition on said front image to identify data encoded in said MICR-line,
• determine a level of confidence in identification of said data from said optical character recognition performed on said front image, and
• perform optical character recognition on said infrared image of the portion to identify data encoded in said MICR-line only if said level of confidence is less than a predetermined threshold.

A method for scanning a payment item having a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)-line, the method comprising:

• receiving said payment item into a scanner for scanning lines substantially parallel to said MICR-line;
• generating, using infrared light, an infrared image of a portion of a front of said payment item, wherein said MICR-line is contained in said portion, by line-by-line scanning at a first resolution in lines that are substantially parallel to said MICR-line;
• generating, using visible light, a visible image of said portion by line-by-line scanning at a second resolution in lines that are substantially parallel to said MICR-line;
• generating, using visible light, a visible image of a remaining portion of said front of said payment item by line-by-line scanning at a third resolution in lines that are substantially parallel to said MICR-line;
• performing optical character recognition on said visible image of said portion to identify data encoded in said MICR-line;
• determining a level of confidence in identification of said data from said optical character recognition performed on said visible image of said portion;
• and
• performing optical character recognition on said infrared image to identify data encoded in said MICR-line only if said level of confidence is less than a predetermined threshold.