HANNAFORD TESTING FINGERPRINT IDS TO ERASE BAD CHECKS

DEENA AMATO-McCOY

SCARBOROUGH, Maine -- Hannaford Bros. here is getting the upper hand in preventing the cashing of counterfeit payroll checks with a fingerprint-capture identification system.

"The system is being tested in our Charlotte, N.C., market and we are currently in the process of evaluating its benefits," said Steve Campbell, manager of financial services at retail for Hannaford. The retailer declined to comment on the results or further expansion plans for the project.

The "fingerprint signature" capture system will reportedly be live in six Charlotte-area Hannaford stores within the next 30 days, according to a source familiar with the situation. One store began using the system last month, the source said.

Two other retailers successfully using the fingerprint-capture system to reduce check losses include Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla., and Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C.

As customers present payroll checks to cashiers, they are asked to touch a sticker that records their fingerprint. This sticker is placed on the check, either near the customer endorsement or on the face of the check.

If the check is counterfeit, a store manager calls the police and turns the document over to them as evidence. A computer in the police department reads the fingerprint and compares it with prints stored in criminal files.

Retailers do not have access to these files and do not store the fingerprint records in-house.

One retailer that has already seen significant results using the fingerprint capture system is Winn-Dixie.

"We have seen between 40% and 90% reductions in check-fraud losses in some locations, based on a comparison of two quarters prior to using the system with one quarter after the system was implemented in stores," said Eric Padgett, return check manager for Winn-Dixie's Jacksonville division.

"Based on these figures we made the decision to expand the [fingerprint-capture system] into metropolitan and surrounding areas," he added.

Winn-Dixie began a three-month test of the system in 10 stores of its Jacksonville division last September. Currently the fingerprint-capture system is installed in 35 stores in the division. Though he did not give a specific time frame, Padgett said Winn-Dixie plans to roll out the system to its entire Jacksonville division. "By the end of 1997 there will be up to 20 more stores using fingerprint capture," he said. He added that once other division managers examine these results, he expects "the system could roll out companywide within a year."

The fingerprint-capture system being used by Hannaford Bros., Winn-Dixie Stores and Food Lion is from Crime Bite Ltd., Aiken, S.C.