7. A computer program product stored on a computer readable non-transitory storage medium for implementing a frequency domain based magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) system, comprising: program code configured for generating a set of Fourier components from temporal MICR data for an inputted arbitrary character, wherein the set of Fourier components comprises six components including a fundamental and next five harmonics; program code configured for normalizing the set of Fourier components to generate a normalized set of Fourier components; and program code configured for comparing the normalized set of Fourier components with each of a set of reference waveforms to determine an identity of the inputted arbitrary character, wherein the set of reference waveforms comprises a corresponding six components including a corresponding fundamental and corresponding next five harmonics, and wherein the comparing, comprises: calculating a set of difference value between each component in the normalized set of Fourier components and an associated component in a reference waveform; weighting each difference value such that a difference value calculated for a relatively higher Fourier component receives a relatively lower weight; summing each of the weighted difference values; comparing concavities between the normalized set of Fourier components and each set of reference waveforms; and assigning values based upon a degree of concavity matching.
7. A computer program product stored on a computer readable non-transitory storage medium for implementing a frequency domain based magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) system, comprising: program code configured for generating a set of Fourier components from temporal MICR data for an inputted arbitrary character, wherein the set of Fourier components comprises six components including a fundamental and next five harmonics; program code configured for normalizing the set of Fourier components to generate a normalized set of Fourier components; and program code configured for comparing the normalized set of Fourier components with each of a set of reference waveforms to determine an identity of the inputted arbitrary character, wherein the set of reference waveforms comprises a corresponding six components including a corresponding fundamental and corresponding next five harmonics, and wherein the comparing, comprises: calculating a set of difference value between each component in the normalized set of Fourier components and an associated component in a reference waveform; weighting each difference value such that a difference value calculated for a relatively higher Fourier component receives a relatively lower weight; summing each of the weighted difference values; comparing concavities between the normalized set of Fourier components and each set of reference waveforms; and assigning values based upon a degree of concavity matching. 10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein a reference waveform is provided for each character in a character set.