Mobile Wallet Biometric Age Validation for Self-Checkout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Retailers face challenges in validating the age of customers purchasing age-restricted items through self-checkout systems without intervention from store representatives, leading to slowed checkout processes and potential issues with customers lacking identification.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a mobile wallet application to enable automatic age validation by capturing and storing biometric data on a blockchain, allowing for age verification at the point of sale without human intervention, using cameras and biometric input functionalities to match user data with stored information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual inspection of identification instrument is used, then age validation accuracy is improved, but checkout speed deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical inspection process with an automated optical scanning system. The processor automatically reads machine-readable elements (such as magnetic strips, RFID tags, or barcodes) on identification instruments, eliminating the need for manual inspection while maintaining accurate age validation and significantly improving checkout speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service age validation where the identification instrument automatically presents its machine-readable element to the scanning device, and the processor autonomously validates the age without requiring store representative intervention. This automates the validation process and maintains both accuracy and speed.
2Productivity
If automatic age validation feature is enabled, then checkout speed is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile wallet application serves multiple functions: it stores payment information, captures biometric data (fingerprints, facial recognition), stores validated age information, and facilitates both regular and age-restricted purchases. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single application, managing complexity while enabling automatic validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary age validation and stores the validated age information in the mobile wallet application before the actual purchase occurs. This pre-validation approach allows for rapid checkout without repeated complex validation processes, improving speed while managing system complexity through proactive data collection and storage.
Data Source
AI summary
An identification validation system and method may include detecting that a first age restricted item has been selected for purchase at a first point of sale by a user, determining that an age validation is not enabled, requiring that the user submit an identification instrument to verify an age of the user, after the purchase is complete, prompting the user to enable the age validation feature of the mobile wallet application of the user mobile device, directing a software application loaded on the user mobile device to access at least one biometric data input functionality of the user mobile device to capture the at least one biometric of the user, and comparing biometric features of the user captured by at least one camera.