UK Grocer Asda Trials Automated Age Verification Software

U.K. grocer Asda is the first retailer to try out automated age verification software in its stores, thanks to a partnership with digital identification software company Yoti and technology leader NCR.

Asda announced on Monday (Jan. 31) that the trial will run in its Pudsey and Stevenage stores until the end of May.

When self-checkout customers purchase age-restricted Think25 items, including alcohol, a camera in the checkout screen will estimate a customer’s age. Per the report, the software uses “privacy preserving age estimation technology.”

If the system detects a customer’s appearance as younger than 25, they can prove their age through the Yoti and Post Office Easy ID apps, or show their physical ID to an attendant.

Per the report, the initiative is part of a Home Office effort to trial age verification-related technology for alcohol sales. As such, the platform will only be used for the purchase of alcohol during the trial.

“We know how time-pressed some of our customers are, so we always want to make things quicker and easier for them when they shop with us,” said Asda senior director of retail innovation Geri Hebberd. “We are excited to be the first retailer in the U.K. to test this new technology and are looking forward to seeing what our customers think of the trial. The use of this software will enable colleagues to focus on serving customers and make sure they have an excellent experience whilst in store.”

Asda is also trying out other technologies, including a sensor to detect in-store customer numbers and testing mobile payments on its Scan and Go shopping app.

In other security innovation news, Samsung is debuting a fingerprint security integrated circuit, which will add more biometrics for payment cards in a new chip solution.

See also: Samsung Launches Comprehensive Fingerprint Security for Payment Cards

The solution, called S3B512C, will combine a fingerprint sensor with Secure Element and Secure Processor, making more authentication layers for protection. While it’s mostly for payment cards, it can also be used for other things, such as student or employee identification.