Automatic Merchandiser - 27

"Biometric use is really only limited by your available resources and
imagination, with the capability to be
implemented most anywhere a need to
verify identity exists," he said.
A GROWING TREND

William Kolpasky, product manager
at 365 Retail Markets, said biometrics,
an alternative to cash, will play a large
role in the U.S. shift toward cashless
payments.
"As our solutions continue to integrate biometrics and mobile technology
- such as our 365Pay app - into their
products, consumers will only become
more comfortable with their use and
will come to rely upon those identification methods for the fastest checkout
possible," he said. "Pulling out your
credit card was incrementally faster than
using cash, and now biometrics makes
checkout even faster than credit card."
Kasavana predicts the use of biometrics within convenience services
in closed venues, such as private break
rooms' vending machines and micro
markets, will increase in the next
several years. The use of the technology
makes good business sense in situations where the same set of employees
or customers frequently uses the same
point of sale.
"As most vending and micro market
customers learn, there is no faster form
of settlement [method of payment]
than a clear biometric," he said. "Operators lean toward biometrics when they
realize that the speed and transactional
cost can be superior to credit/debit card
acceptance and processing."
Smith predicts consumers' familiarity with biometrics technology will
boost their comfort level.
"Firstly, we'll see another wave of
mobile interaction just like WeChat Pay
in China," Smith said. "Then we'll see
that go away completely as consumers
are willing to have their mobile data
now held on the cloud and looked up
using a biometric scan."

Companies will then adopt it to
stay competitive, with manufacturers
or suppliers leading the adoption of the
technology in automatic retail.
"I think the biggest impact will
come from top down, where the likes
of Coke or Pepsi will incorporate new
experiences for their consumers,"
he said. "Otherwise I would expect
this from the bottom up; companies
that serve these operators are where
we should expect to see the change.
Companies such as Cantaloupe Systems
[part of USA Technologies], who
provide a software to assist in route and
inventory management will likely be the
ones to include a biometric add-on to
allow for authentication in operations."
An increase in the sale of agerestricted products, such as cannabidiol-infused products or alcohol, in
automated retail would be another
promoter of the use of biometrics.
"If that ends up happening, it's
pretty much guaranteed some form of
biometrics will be the payment method,
which we've already seen happen elsewhere in the world," Perkins said.

Kasavana's stating that it allows for
more secure transactions. He added
that operators should keep in mind
that biometrics technology itself continues to develop.
"Just as computers continue to
become smaller, cheaper and more
powerful, biometrics technology is still
evolving," he said. "Don't let that deter
you from implementing. Your consumer
base is accepting of the tech. It makes
the sale more efficient for them and
both the operator and consumer can
feel more comfortable about the security
and authenticity of the transaction."
Kasavana added that recognition and reliability is paramount in
biometrics.
"Realizing that the cost of processing will be less than a comparison to
alternate forms of settlement [methods of payment], operators are often
interested in providing the opportunity
to customers already familiar with
fingerprint and/or facial recognition
common to mobile phones or tablet
devices," he said.

ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRICS

Smith remarked on the cost-to-benefit
ratio of biometrics and the motivations
behind its use in automated retail.
"Brands often like to add an edge
to their consumer experience by doing
some of these things, while vend operators typically don't see any efficiencies
from biometrics in their operations,"
Smith said. "So it really depends on
who the key decision-maker is and the
business purpose."
He said that as a vending operator,
his company doesn't see a significant
benefit from using biometrics in
operations.
"Vend operators typically work in
a high volume, low margin business,
and squeeze the efficiencies as much as
possible," he said. "Having a replenisher
running a route and using biometrics to
authenticate and unlock a lock or access
an app doesn't really save us time."

Biometrics provides several benefits for
automated retail, including the elimination of problems associated with passwords, disabilities and data security,
Kasavana said.
Kolpasky said biometrics also
enhances the user experience and
checkout process, and 365 offers micro
markets with biometric capabilities
pre-built into the units, making the
process of accepting biometric data
extremely easy and seamless.
"At 365, we want to maximize the
convenience options built into our products." he said. "We want to remove as
many barriers as possible in the checkout
flow, and through the use of biometrics
we can really streamline that process to
offer a great experience for users."
Perkins echoed Kolpasky's assessment of the increase of speed and

VALUE OF BIOMETRICS

April 2020 * VendingMarketWatch.com

http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com

Automatic Merchandiser

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