Supermarket self-service tills replace ID checks with facial recognition
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Loading... - Nuria Ramos
- 14 Nov 2020
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Supermarkets are set to trial facial recognition software to replace age checks under a pilot run by a British identity app.
The technology will be used to remove in-person age checks when customers are buying alcohol and other age restricted items at a self-service till.
The checkouts will confirm the user’s age by using a smartphone app called Yoti, which scans the shopper’s face to confirm their identity. It is hoped the technology can remove a key bottleneck at self-service tills - the requirement that assistants must still check identification when buying age-restricted goods.
Yoti was founded by Robin Tombs and Noel Hayden, two entrepreneurs who started the online gambling company Gamesys before selling it to Intertain for £426m. They have put £23m of their own money into Yoti, and now have around 180 staff working on the app.
The app is set up by taking a photo and scanning a person’s driving licence or passport, at which point the two are tied together. The app is then able to confirm its owner’s identity at any time by them taking a selfie.
Mr Tombs said the company is working with NCR, which makes self-service supermarket tills. He said two of the big four supermarkets have received approval to pilot the technology early next year, although he said he could not disclose which ones.
Using Yoti at a self service till would involve a QR code showing up on the checkout screen, which could be scanned by the app. The Yoti app would then scan the shopper's face to confirm their identity, and would then connect to the till over the internet to verify the purchase.
Mr Tombs said image recognition software had only recently got to the point where facial recognition is accurate enough to be relied upon. Mobile phone makers Samsung and Apple have incorporated the technology into their handsets this year.
Yoti says almost 100,000 people in the UK have downloaded its app during a beta test. It says the technology could also be used to fight ticket touts and cut down on online fraud.
