New Accord Reader available to city traders

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/textonly/vbparser.asp?path=http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk%2FACC%5FData%2Fnews+item%2Fppu%5Fnews%5F050203b%2Easp?>


News Item

New Accord Reader available to city traders

 03 February 2005 14:29

 Traders in Aberdeen are being offered help stamping out underage sales of
tobacco, solvents, spray paints and other restricted items.

The Accord Reader is a small till-top device that verifies an age band for
customers, using the information stored on their Accord Card - Aberdeen
City Council's pioneering smartcard.

The gadget is already a common sight in city stores - with the Safer
Aberdeen partnership having bought and distributed 320 readers among shops
providing off sales, prior to Christmas.

Now the Accord team is writing to newsagents, video stores and cinemas
offering them the chance to pick up the invaluable devices, which cost just
#15 each.

Accord Readers are small devices, little bigger than the Accord Card
itself. They work by accessing the birth date information stored on each
card and displaying a minimum age for the customer, such as 12, 16, 18 -
verifying whether they are entitled to buy tobacco, lottery products,
alcohol and other age-restricted items.

The cardholder's date of birth itself is not revealed and no other personal
information - such as entitlement to concessionary travel, free school
meals or library lending - can be accessed.

The Accord Card is already issued to secondary school pupils in the city -
a key group when addressing the issue of underage sales.

It can be used to determine whether a customer can legally be sold items
including tobacco products, knives, videos and DVDs, fireworks, glue,
lighter fuel and spray paint.


 The Accord Reader

Benefit to the retailer: Rather than relying on retail staff to calculate,
or even guess, a customer's date of birth, the Proof of Age Reader gives
them access to secure, reliable data at their fingertips.

Any Accord Card can be inserted in the Reader, instantly displaying a
message that the bearer is ''OVER XX'', one of a range of specified ages.
 Retailers also have a secondary check, using the photograph on the back of
each Accord Card, to confirm the customer is who they say they are.
 All pupils of Council-run secondary schools in Aberdeen hold Accord Cards.

Benefit to customers: Customers will be safe in the knowledge they can
prove they are entitled to purchase certain products, and they - and you -
are not unwittingly breaking the law.

The Accord Card

In simplistic terms, the Accord Card is:

* A system identifier

Grampian Police backs the Accord Card as a proof of age and identity.
 It also identifies those users who are Young Scots.

* A product carrier

Currently, 19,000 concessionary cardholders use the card - as a proof of
identity - when they travel on public transport. This initiative is being
further developed to provide transport ticketing.

Accord replaces library cards. However, its use is not limited to Council
service - it can be used in the private sector.

It will be a long lasting card, which provides users with greater and
easier access to many benefits and services.

* An electronic purse

Twelve secondary schools currently use Accord as an electronic purse -
allowing for cashless catering and vending. This encourages children to
access concessionary entitlements anonymously - removing any stigma
attached to receiving free school meals or clothing grants.

These are just a few of the potential benefits of the Accord Card. It aims
to become one card that replaces many others - for example, replacing
library cards, leisure cards, travel cards and dinner tickets.
 The Accord Card will be available to all citizens of Aberdeen during 2005.
 To find out more about the scheme, please contact the Accord Office on
01224 645596 between the hours on 9:00 am and 4:00pm, Monday to Friday.


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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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