US biometric payments firm BioPay is adding an age verification feature to its retail payments product which automatically screens customers making purchases of age-restricted items such as alcohol and tobacco.
BioPay says the new feature will enable retail stores to verify a customer's date of birth at enrollment and then automatically approve legal age customers for all future transactions.
The vendor's biometric technology stores scanned fingerprints as a set of 40 unique data points. Customers then select a personal 10-digit number which is used to authorise payments from a bank account as well as to verify their age.
Tim Robinson, president, BioPay, says: "Retailers need to feel more confident that a purchaser's age is being verified consistently and accurately throughout their store or chain. With BioPay, a one-time registration of the consumer allows legal-age purchasers to be automatically verified for future age-restricted purchases."