Rentals on fly? Biometrics

Hertz partners with maker of screening kiosks

Biometric screening is expanding to the rental car industry.

Hertz said this month it is teaming up with Clear, the maker of biometric screening kiosks found at many airports, to slash the time it takes to pick up a rental car. Clear hopes it will lead more travelers to its platform, which has 3 million members in the United States.

It’s the latest place consumers will find biometric technology, which has migrated over the past 50 years from secure government facilities and banks to airports, stadiums and even smartphones that unlock with the touch a fingerprint. Hertz is the first rental car company to use the technology.

Improvements in cameras and other technology have made it cheaper to install scanners that can read fingerprints, faces and irises. More than 100 airports worldwide use biometric readers from Clear, Vision-Box and other companies to scan passengers. Walt Disney World verifies visitors’ identity by scanning fingerprints.

And the advancements probably will keep coming. Microsoft is working with Australia’s national bank on cardless ATM machines that would let people withdraw cash using a facial scan and personal identification number.

Universities in London and Copenhagen have on-campus groceries that let students pay with their finger. Some laptops can be unlocked with a fingerprint scan.

Hertz with Clear launched their biometrics scans at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It will be rolled out to 40 more U.S. Hertz locations next year, including John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

A representative for Hertz would not say whether McCarran International Airport is part of next year’s expansion plan.

“Hertz plans to announce the specific airports as they near opening those sites,” a Hertz representative said in an email to the Review-Journal. “But you can expect to see them in the 40+ top markets and busiest airports in the U.S.”

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program members with access to Clear will be able to bypass the counter, pick up their car and head to the exit gate. There, Clear pods equipped with cameras and touchscreens can read their face or their fingerprints. If they match with Hertz’s reservation data, the gate will open. Hertz will have at least one lane dedicated to Clear members at each location.

Hertz President and CEO Kathy Marinello expects Clear to shave 1.5 minutes off what is now a 2-minute checkout process.

“In the world of travel, I think time is of the essence,” she said.

The service is free for members of the Gold Plus Rewards program, which also has no fee. Travelers can sign up for Clear at a Hertz location. To upgrade to airport service, which promises to move Clear members through security lines more quickly, travelers must pay a monthly fee of $15.

Clear says it’s the first time it will be identifying members based on their face instead of their iris or their fingerprints.

Clear CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker said the cameras can take measurements and identify minute differences in facial features.

Jeff Martina The Associated Press A rental car approaches a biometric scanning machine Dec. 7 at the exit of the Hertz facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.