Innovative Technology (ITL) had a successful show in Madrid last week where their cash handling equipment for the Spanish gaming market took centre stage at Feria Internacional del Juego (FIJMA).  Celebrating the 40th anniversary, the show attracted gaming professionals from all over the globe to discuss the latest innovations in the industry.

Jose Garcia Escudero, General Manager for ITL Spain said, “It was great to see everyone at FIJMA last week, it was without a doubt the most productive show I can remember. Our NV22 Spectral compact note recycler definitely stole the show, proving its popularity in the Spanish gaming sector. This unit is making significant gains in the market to facilitate cash payouts and efficiently keep machines running. Combining this with our advanced coin recycler (SMART Coin System) gives operators considerable float management savings, fewer refills, and a massive reduction in both note and coin starvation.”

ITL also showed their latest NV4000 mixed denomination note recycler to the Spanish gaming market for the first time, ideal for high volume applications like change and redemption terminals.

Concluding Jose said, “We have very strong relationships with the Spanish gaming market and FIJMA 2024 provided us with a great platform to network with both operators and customers alike.”

Innovative Technology (ITL) have successfully renewed their certification from the independent body ACCS (Age Check Certification Scheme) achieving improved scores over their previous test two years ago. Their biometric age verification technology is successfully being used to control access to age-restricted products and restricted venues in various sectors including retail and gaming.

Dr Andrew O’Brien, Biometrics Product Manager commented, “We are absolutely delighted that our age verification technology has retained its Challenge 25 recommendation. ICU Lite, which powers all of our biometric devices, was vigorously tested by ACCS and the results showed an overall improvement from our last assessment in 2021. In fact, these results make us the first organisation to break the under 1 year Mean Absolute Error (MAE) barrier. The findings highlight that on average, our technology over estimates by only 0.39 years, with a MAE of 0.94 years. This robust, impartial certification from ACCS reaffirms our position as a leading provider of age estimation technology. It is testament to the hard work our team have put into developing our own algorithms to provide these great results.”

The Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) is a UKAS-accredited conformity assessment body, comprised of auditors, certification specialists, and data protection experts. They independently test and certify online and offline systems that check age and identity.

Tony Allen, Founder and CEO of ACCS explained, “Our role is to test that ID and age check systems work and produce accurate age attribute outputs thereby giving providers an independent benchmark. Our mission is to protect children from the harm associated with access to age-restricted products, content and services. This report concluded that ICU Lite is suitably accurate and fit for deployment in a Challenge 25 policy area, achieving the highest rate of accuracy.”

Andrew added, “Stopping minors from accessing age-restricted products like vapes, tobacco and alcohol and preventing underage gambling is high on the UK Government agenda, with consultations and reviews ongoing regarding the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Gambling Act and Alcohol Licensing Act. How technology can play a key role in age verification is very much a key part of these reforms. Available at a one-time purchase cost with no additional fees per age check, plus local processing all done on the device, we offer an affordable and readily available solution for accurate age verification.”

Concluding Andrew said, “While the results we present today are really positive, the bigger picture here is that dependable and accurate age estimation solutions exist, and we along with others, continue to be very open regarding our performance.  These tools are available and can be deployed today to help retailers control access to age restricted goods and venues.  We all want to protect minors from accessing unsuitable products, but we must also provide retailers with the tools to help them achieve this.  The challenge now is to keep improving and continue to develop our solutions to ensure we remain at the forefront of this rapidly advancing market.”

Innovative Technology (ITL) had a successful few days at the Retail Technology Show (RTS) in London last week showcasing innovations from both their cash and biometrics divisions.  ITL supply a series of products to the retail sector which manage cash transactions, and estimate a customer’s age when purchasing age-restricted products.

Commenting Chris Wright, UK Business Development Manager said, “The team had some interesting conversations at RTS last week with retailers keen to implement our latest technologies. We had a busy couple of days networking with all the big UK retail brands under one roof.  Our AI-powered biometrics attracted much attention, indicating that retailers are now actively starting on the journey to employ age estimation technology into their business.”

MyCheckr is ITL’s all-in-one solution with an integrated screen and camera designed for retailers to simply plug in and get started with age estimation technology.   

Explaining MyCheckr further, John Vallis, Senior Business Development Manager for biometrics said, “MyCheckr can also be used to push alerts to staff members to notify them that a customer is potentially underage. It was encouraging to hear from the large retail outlets who could see real benefit in this feature to further help staff with Challenge 25. Unlike other solutions on the market, our range boasts a one-off device cost with no subscriptions, no internet required, and no biometric personal data or ID stored; making our technology affordable, available and completely anonymous.”

Innovative also offer a range of cash validation and cash recycling solutions to assist with the handling of note and coin payments.

Chris added, “We had an interactive point-of-sale (POS) demo on the stand using our NV4000 multi-note recycler and SMART Coin System (SCS), plus age check technology all working together. Collectively these devices help retailers accelerate customer throughput with fewer refills and automated float management, as well as ensuring age-restricted goods are not sold to minors.”

Concluding Chris said, “It was great to see so many partners demoing our cash and biometrics products on their stands over the two days too.  The team look forward to following up with prospective customers to see how we can help generate cash handling efficiencies and automate age checks.”