Business Reduces Payroll Fraud, Cuts Overtime Costs by 75 Percent with Biometrics
DigitalPersona Inc., a global provider of authentication and endpoint protection solutions, recently announced that Connectivity Source, a full-service Master Telecommunications Agency, has reduced time-and-attendance fraud by as much as 75 percent with DigitalPersona U.are.U fingerprint readers and iQmetrix retail management software.
Connectivity Source has also gained greater insight into the average revenue per employee, reduced the time spent on monthly payroll audits and improved staff planning.
With more than 30 stores throughout Texas and Louisiana, Connectivity Source was faced with the growing challenges of payroll fraud and workforce management.
At one point, the company saw more than 90 percent of its point-of-sale (POS) staff logging in more hours worked than had been scheduled. At least 50 percent of all payroll logins (punches) per pay period had to be revised, creating both a financial and human resources strain on the company.
Connectivity Source determined that employees were "buddy punching," sharing login passwords in order to "punch in or out" for a fellow worker. To reduce this payroll fraud and increase employee accountability, Connectivity Source added DigitalPersona's fingerprint biometrics solution to its existing iQmetrix retail management system.
"It's nearly impossible to police the issue of buddy punching in a distributed retail environment without a system that enables greater accountability. DigitalPersona's fingerprint biometrics have proven to be a great solution," said Sarah Cuartas, director of operations, Connectivity Source. "Since deploying U.are.U fingerprint readers, we have seen payroll fraud drop significantly. We have also found that the data provided by the fingerprint readers makes productivity easier to track, allowing us to better forecast how much staff are needed to cover daily customer traffic."
Connectivity Source achieved an immediate return on investment, realizing a 75 percent reduction in overtime expenses due to payroll fraud and a dramatic drop in time-clock revisions to only a couple each pay period. In addition, Connectivity Source now can implement fingerprint biometrics in a new store within an hour, significantly reducing the amount of IT staff time spent setting up payroll systems.
U.are.U fingerprint readers are available integrated into most of the leading biometrically-enabled POS terminals, and can also be plugged into existing POS terminals as USB peripherals. Having these multiple deployment options gives Connectivity Source the flexibility to add biometrics easily according to each store's particular needs.
"Fingerprint biometrics has become a plug-and-play solution for helping reduce payroll fraud while providing greater levels of in-store security," said Jim Fulton, vice president of marketing at DigitalPersona. "Connectivity Source demonstrates how time-and-attendance systems can be biometrically-secured using DigitalPersona fingerprint readers in less than an hour, providing immediate financial and operational benefits."