The check digits enable the sending bank (or its customer) to perform a sanity check of the routing destination and account number from a single string of data at the time of data entry.
Generally, interest rates on FHA-backed mortgages are competitive with conventional mortgages. A quick scan of interest rates for 2012 reveals that FHA mortgages feature rates of about 3.33 percent. The FHA states that the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan on a single-family home is about 4.06 percent.
FHA has a form of PMI called MMI or monthly mortgage insurance. The rate as of feb-2013 is 1.35%. They also charge a Upfront Mortgage Insurance premium of 1.75%. On either PMI or MMI, you multiple the percent times the loan amount. As an example $100,000 times .62% = $620 divided by 12 for a monthly amount of $51.66. Steve Geving Jones and Co Realty