KFC to trial fingerprint ID system
A KFC restaurant in the USA is set to test a self-service fast-food system that fingerprints customers for future recognition.
Customers will enter their order on a touch-pad screen and pay by cash, cheque or card, then go to an express lane to pick it up. Its makers say the whole transaction could take less than half a minute.
"It will save labour dollars because you don't have a person there taking orders," said Larry Nelson, regional director for Harman Management Corporation, one of the biggest franchisees of KFC's owner, Yum! Brands.
The system accepts banknotes and swipe cards. Customers paying by cheque or credit card requiring extra identification have their fingerprints read and digitised into a unique number, which is reused on repeat visits.
Nelson said he hoped to build up fingerprint data to use in possible loyalty schemes in the future.
OrderXCEL is due to be installed at the restaurant in Sacramento, California, within two months and is aimed at regular customers.
Biometrics - identifying people through fingerprint and eye-scanning - is being used in US prisons and airports. OrderXCEL's maker, International Automated Systems, said using it for fast-food orders was still "a little way off".
