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MICR Code Lookup
MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. The 9-digit code at the bottom of every Indian cheque encodes the city (matching pincode), bank and branch.
9 digits, found at the bottom of cheques.
How the 9-digit MICR is structured
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) is printed in special magnetic ink at the bottom of every Indian cheque using the E-13B font. The 9 digits split into three blocks of 3 each: first 3 = City Code (matches the city's pincode prefix, e.g. 110 for Delhi, 400 for Mumbai, 560 for Bengaluru), middle 3 = Bank Code assigned by RBI (e.g. 002 for SBI, 240 for HDFC Bank), last 3 = Branch Code. Cheque scanners at clearing houses read the magnetic strip directly, which is faster and more tamper-resistant than OCR.
Worked example
A cheque with MICR 400240015 decodes as: city 400 = Mumbai, bank 240 = HDFC Bank, branch 015 = a specific Mumbai branch. The IFSC for the same branch would look like “HDFC0000XXX” — MICR is purely numeric and used for physical cheque clearing under the Cheque Truncation System (CTS-2010), while IFSC is alphanumeric and used for digital transfers (NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI).
When to use this
- Filling out an ECS / NACH mandate — many older forms still ask for MICR alongside IFSC
- Verifying that a received cheque belongs to the city / bank the issuer claims
- Looking up branch identity when the IFSC is faded or unreadable
For digital transfers, the alphanumeric code matters — use the IFSC Lookup tool to find or validate it. For PAN format see PAN Validator.
FAQ
Why is MICR still on cheques in 2026?
Legacy clearing systems still use MICR for cheque processing. Even though IFSC drives most digital transfers (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS), physical cheques rely on the magnetic ink reader at the city clearing house.
Why do MICR and IFSC differ for the same branch?
MICR identifies the *clearing zone* (city). IFSC identifies the *branch* unique to RBI's NEFT/RTGS network. Two MICR-distinct codes can share the same IFSC if from different clearing houses.
Where do I find my MICR?
Bottom of any cheque leaf — the 9-digit number printed in special MICR font. Also on your bank statement header, and in the bank's passbook on the first page.