Gokis Kiosk Self-Service

Biometric Security -- Clear and Vigilant Cooperate

Nation's Two Largest Registered Traveler Providers Allow Cardholders Seamless Use of Each Other's Fast Pass kiosk Lanes

Clear and Vigilant Solutions Reach Interoperability Fee Agreement - MarketWatch

NEW YORK, and JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept 15, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Clear(R), the leading provider of airport security fast pass lanes, and Vigilant Solutions, the second largest provider, announced today that the companies signed a reciprocal fee agreement. That agreement will allow cardholders from Vigilant's two programs in Jacksonville, Florida and Gulfport, Mississippi to use their cards at Clear's 17 airports including those in New York, Atlanta (opening this month), San Francisco, Orlando and Denver airports and for Clear members to be able to use their cards at the Jacksonville and Gulfport-Biloxi airports.
The agreement provides that each company will pay the other an Interoperability Cost Sharing Fee (ICSF) each time one of their cardholders uses a lane operated by the other company. The ICSF is based on the cost of operating RT lanes. Both companies' kiosks at the RT lanes are programmed to record the company that issued the card being used, but in order to adhere to strict privacy protections and avoid tracking RT members' travel, the kiosks do not record the identity of an individual.
"This is a landmark step in the growth of this industry," said Clear founder and CEO Steven Brill. "When the program was first conceived," Brill explained, "the American Association of Airport Executives convened an 'interoperability consortium' of industry participants that created a model for this interoperability fee based on the sharing of the costs of operating the RT lane, divided by the number of people using them, which produces a number that is called a 'cost-per-verification.' The Clear-Vigilant agreement puts that model in action," Brill continued, "and in doing so, ensures the growth of a competitive national industry whose customers will be able to use the national network regardless of which of the competitors' cards they have purchased, while also ensuring that each company is compensated fairly for its costs in building and maintaining the national network."
The fee and the details of the agreement are being kept confidential between companies.
"We're delighted to be able to assure our Preferred Traveler members that they can use their cards at all of the airports where the lanes are equipped and staffed by Clear," said Julie Venditti, CTO of Vigilant. "The interoperability of the program among many airports will allow travelers to leave from one airport and return through another as seamlessly as possible. With long waits at security check-in lines at many of the busier airports, this program will greatly improve the travel experience for all travelers. This is a great step forward for Vigilant Solutions, Clear and also for our industry," Venditti added.
Clear and Vigilant members are pre-screened and, after application completion which involves providing iris and fingerprint images, receive a card that allows access to fast security lanes at participating airports nationwide.
About Clear
Clear, operated by Verified Identity Pass, Inc., has signed up more than 200,000 travelers nationwide. Clear cards are accepted at 18 U.S. airports: Albany, Cincinnati, Denver, Gulfport-Biloxi, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, LaGuardia (Central Terminal B and Terminal D), Little Rock, New York JFK (Terminals 1, 2, 4 and 7), Newark (Terminal B1 and B2), Oakland, Orlando, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Jose, Washington, DC's Reagan and Dulles, and Westchester. And, soon, Clear lanes will open at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Clear members are pre-screened and provided with a high-tech card, which allows them to access designated security lanes nationwide for an annual fee of $128. Clear members pass through the security checkpoint faster, with more predictability and less hassle. Applicants start their enrollment at flyclear.com and complete the process at an enrollment location where their fingerprints and iris images are captured and their identification is validated. Clear's registered traveler program has been operational since July 19, 2005. For more information, please visit: http://www.flyclear.com.
About Vigilant Solutions
Vigilant Solutions (VS), a Jacksonville Beach-based company operates an enhanced version of the Transportation Security Administration's Registered Traveler program called "Preferred Traveler" currently in Jacksonville and Gulfport-Biloxi. Vigilant Solutions has a unique offering not only just addressing the security and wait time issues, but also providing multiple levels of additional customer benefits to enhance the total travel experience from "beginning to end". The Preferred Traveler program provides passengers, who have been pre-screened, access to a designated, expedited lane through airport security checkpoints with the use of a "smart card" containing their biometrics (fingerprints and iris images) at designated Registered Traveler lanes at locations nationwide. For more information, please visit http://www.fly-vip.com.
Vigilant Solutions is a systems solutions provider for security and RFID solutions and has developed its Event Visualization Platform (EVP) which is recognized as a best of class solution and has been deployed in many industry segments including healthcare, defense, manufacturing, entertainment, transportation and information technology industries.
SOURCE Clear

http://www.flyclear.com