The introduction of SmartCheck, a contactless fast-track facial biometric check-in system provided by iProov, a global provider of biometric solutions, at London St. Pancras Station has been announced by Eurostar Group, the high-speed international rail service connecting the UK with continental Europe.Passengers simply need to go through one passport check with SmartCheck as opposed to two. By securely enrolling their ticket, passport, and face before their trip via their smart devices whenever possible, SmartCheck lets Eurostar’s Business Premier and Carte Blanche passengers to save time and skip lines for ticket and UK border exit checks in the station. The outcome is a safe, contactless, and ticketless travel experience that improves the entire passenger journey.
Customers with Business Premier or Carte Blanche reservations who want to use SmartCheck must opt in and download the SmartCheck iProov.me app to their smartphone from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Prior to departure, the traveller uses the app to scan their identification documents, authenticate their face, and scan their tickets. In order to speed up pre-boarding procedures at the station, the new system allows Eurostar passengers to pass via a special SmartCheck corridor with a walk-past face biometric screening. The manual UK border exit check and the current gate check-in procedures have been replaced with this quick, contactless method. There is only one more passport examination and bag check at the French border.
Following a successful trial of the new system between December 2021 and April 2022, during which iProov worked with its partner Entrust to design the pilot to fit Eurostar’s needs, the roll-out, which is effective from July 18, 2023, follows. For identity orchestration and digital travel credential (DTC) management, the SmartCheck solution combines Entrust’s Identity Verification as a Service (IDVaaS) technology with iProov’s Biometric Solution Suite with Biometric Checkpoint.
“Providing a seamless station experience to our customers is a priority for Eurostar: we continue looking for solutions to increase station capacity and streamline the passenger flows,” stated Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Eurostar Group. The St Pancras International station’s SmartCheck system offers a quick and easy check-in procedure. We become the first rail travel operator to use biometric facial verification by adopting SmartCheck. This innovation will improve the customer departure experience, which is essential to offering the distinctive travel experience offered by Eurostar.
“The rollout of SmartCheck in Eurostar’s Business Premier check-in at London St Pancras is significant because it clearly demonstrates how facial biometric technology can be used to manage border control in a smarter and more efficient way, to benefit both organisations and passengers at scale,” said Andrew Bud, founder and CEO of iProov. We are streamlining the boarding procedure to one that is much faster, more pleasant, less crowded and stressful, yet even more safe, by establishing a biometric corridor. This will save valuable time and space at the border.
Source- Travel daily