22/6/11 - Popeye's Restaurant Franchisee Uses DigitalPersona Fingerprint Biometrics to Reduce Employee Fraud

U.are.U Fingerprint Readers Help Slash Register Shrink and Buddy Punching

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DigitalPersona, Inc., a global provider of authentication and endpoint protection solutions, today announcedSailormen, Inc., the largest Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits franchise in the U.S., is rolling out U.are.U® Fingerprint Readers to 148 locations throughout Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. Sailormen, Inc. has found that the deployment of fingerprint biometrics as a part of their point-of-sale (POS) systems, has improved employee accountability, increased sales, and reduced both unauthorized transactions and payroll fraud.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110614/SF19198)

This Popeye's operator uses U.are.U fingerprint readers and point-of-sale software for verification of manager overrides and for employee time and attendance tracking.  Prior to the use of fingerprint biometrics, managers at the company's Popeye's locations used swipe cards to authorize overrides and voids, and employees "punched in" using a pass code.  By using the biometric readers for time and attendance, employees can no longer punch in for one another, dramatically reducing payroll fraud.  In addition, with fingerprint biometrics, employees cannot "borrow" a manager's card for transaction authorizations, thereby increasing the assurance that a manager has approved all overrides and followed the proper business and loss-prevention processes. As a result, the Popeye's locations with fingerprint-equipped POS systems have experienced a decrease in overrides and inventory losses due to fraud.  

"The U.are.U Fingerprint Readers from DigitalPersona have provided us with a simple and secure way to reduce our financial losses across all of our stores," said JD Zweydoff, director of POS at Sailormen, Inc. "The impact of the deployment has been significant and immediate. We've seen food costs drop and payroll fraud eliminated."

DigitalPersona's U.are.U Fingerprint Readers easily integrate into a variety of POS systems for secure biometric authentication.  Alternative methods of authentication such as smart cards and passwords can be shared among employees, which can lead to fraudulent transactions and buddy punching.  In addition, cards and passwords are easily lost, stolen or forgotten, which can be expensive and time-consuming to replace. DigitalPersona's biometric fingerprint solutions improve overall profitability providing a fast return on investment.

"The numbers from the American Payroll Association on time theft are astounding. It can cost businesses up to 5% of gross payroll, amounting to billions of dollars of losses every year," said Jim Fulton, vice president of marketing at DigitalPersona. "Our fingerprint biometrics solution effectively combats attendance fraud, unauthorized voids and overrides, helping restaurants, such as Popeye's, realize a significant ROI within the first 30 days. A growing number of merchants are telling us these savings alone can pay for a whole POS refresh."

For more information on DigitalPersona fingerprint biometrics for restaurateurs, retailers and developers, visitwww.digitalpersona.com/biometrics.  Latest market updates are also available from DigitalPersona on Twitter.

About DigitalPersona

DigitalPersona, Inc. is a global provider of authentication and endpoint protection solutions that make security simple, practical and affordable for businesses of all sizes. The company helps enterprises, government agencies, custom application developers and independent software vendors close the gap between people and security to efficiently address growing compliance and fraud-prevention demands. DigitalPersona's award-winning technology is offered by market-leading computer manufacturers and solution providers around the world. For more information contact DigitalPersona, Inc. at: +1 650.474.4000, or visit www.digitalpersona.com.

© 2011 DigitalPersona, Inc. All rights reserved. DigitalPersona and U.are.U are trademarks of DigitalPersona, Inc. registered inthe United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.