Overview
ISO 9144:1991 - "Securities - Optical character recognition line - Position and structure" defines the physical location, dimensions and machine‑readable structure of OCR lines on printed securities (security sheets, coupons, talons, warrants). The standard supports reliable automated reading while retaining visual legibility and accommodates international use (annexes A–D form part of the standard).
Key topics and technical requirements
- Clear area (OCR field)
- Height: exactly 9 mm. Minimum width: 95 mm.
- Position on security sheet: horizontal centreline 23.5 mm or 34.5 mm from the upper edge, or 7.5 mm from the lower edge. Right edge of clear area 5 mm or 25 mm from right edge of sheet; left edge ≥ 5 mm from left edge.
- Position on coupons: centreline 7.5 mm from coupon lower edge; left/right edges 5 mm.
- Background: white or a sufficiently light tint per ISO 1831.
- Characters and print quality
- Use the 47 OCR‑B characters (size 1) defined in ISO 1073‑2.
- Constant pitch 10 characters per inch (25.4 mm). Print tolerance and quality per ISO 1831 (character skew, spacing, alignment).
- Recommended avoidance of certain glyphs for technical reasons (e.g., full stop, comma, and characters often confusable like 1, 0, Q).
- OCR line types and structure
- Security Identification Line (SIL) - mandatory. Always 37 characters (including field separators) composed of six fields: special code (1), document type/coupon number (2), denomination/value (default 6), ISIN (12), series designation (default 2), certificate number (default 7). Fields are right‑justified and zero‑filled when unused.
- Auxiliary Information Line (AIL) - optional; may contain additional fields and follows framing/field rules in clause 7 and annex D.
- Fields separated by a single space or a plus sign (“+”) - choice should be standardized nationally.
Applications and who uses it
- Primary users: securities printers, central securities depositories, registrars, custodians, clearing/settlement systems, custodial banks and automated processing centers.
- Practical uses: standardized printing of bonds, shares, coupons and warrants to enable high‑volume automated reading, faster processing, lower handling costs and improved operational controls. Helps integration with ISIN identifiers for international circulation.
Related standards
- ISO 1073‑2 - OCR‑B character shapes and sizes
- ISO 1831 - printing specifications for OCR (print quality, tolerances)
- ISO 6166 - ISIN (International Securities Identification Number)
- ISO 8109 - format of Eurobonds
ISO 9144 is intended where OCR processing volumes justify standardization; when options exist the standard recommends national authorities select one option for consistency.