DigiProof
Technology to help older people living with a bad memory
TOPLINE: As we get older it's more likely that we'll suffer from impaired memory and failing vision. This means it can be hard to remember pin numbers, identify pound notes, or read from a screen. This could be embarrassing if you find yourself in a checkout queue with your shopping already packed and you're holding everyone else up. We came across some existing technology that could help with this problem.
THE STORY SO FAR: digiPROOF is a biometric payment system that allows customers to pay for shopping using their fingerprint. It was invented by German company it-werke who specialise in biometric applications for customer retention and marketing. The digiPROOF system has two main components - digiPROOF software and a fingerprint scanner. The latter is manufactured and delivered by a third party provider. The digiPROOF system is connected to the cash register through a standard interface and communicates with the cashier over TCP/IP protocol. Before a customer can use digiPROOF he must sign up and provide his personal details, account and payment information. His fingerprint is also scanned at this point to create a template. digiPROOF uses 24 typical reference points of the fingerprint which will be used to identify the finger later. Once registered an individual can use his fingerprint as an alternative to cash or credit card. Customers simply place their finger on the scanner to proceed with their purchase and once registered, a customer can use the technology in any store linked to the system. EDEKA is one of the leading retail groups in Europe and the largest food retailer in Germany. EDEKA first introduced digiPROOF to its Rulzheim market in 2004, with the aim of eliminating the downside of existing payment methods and saving cost in the payment process. Other big factors for EDEKA's choice of digiPROOF include customer convenience and increased customer loyalty and retention. Due to the success of the initial rollout, EDEKA decided to extend the use of digiPROOF to more of its stores, with the long-term aim of having the system in all EDEKA stores.
POTENTIAL: Finger print payments could speed up the process of shopping for everyone but most importantly from ActiveAge's perspective, this could help older people to 'shop better'. It could remove that feeling of embarrassment or confusion about forgetting pin numbers, trying to identify notes etc, which can slow down a whole queue of shoppers. In addition to these benefits, this technology could also be a means of preventing credit card fraud. Research so far shows the 35 plus age group were the most common users of digiPROOF. When we spoke to it-werke's Chief Executive, Ulrick Kipper he recognised the following advantages of digiPROOF for older people: "Older people are very often short sighted, hence getting the right coins out of their purse is cumbersome. They are less able to recall on request PIN / codes. Payment by card and PIN is therefore always a challenge and there is also the fear of a long unfriendly queue in their back. They are often anxious that their purse and/or cards are stolen. In addition older people like to prove that they are at least mentally young. Using digiPROOF shows open mindedness for innovations" .
http://www.it-werke.com/en/solutions/digiproof/index.html
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