AgeShield - ID Scanner

AgeShield ID Scanner is an ID scanner app for bars, nightclubs, restaurants and retailers in the US. It runs on the iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets a venue's staff already carry, so there is no hardware to buy.

Point the camera at an ID and the app shows the guest's age against the venue's minimum, the expiry date and any match on the venue's lists. It reads driver's licenses from the US and Canada and some from other countries, US state IDs, US green cards and passports, and checks the barcode on US and Canadian licenses and state IDs for signs of forgery. Scanning keeps working without a signal and syncs when the connection is back.

What else it does:

• Banned, VIP and Regulars lists shared by every device at the venue
• An audit log of every scan and decision, with who made it and when
• Analytics on busiest hours, guest ages and top states
• Separate roles for owners, managers and door staff
• The venue chooses which details are kept and for how long

Every plan covers three devices scanning at once, so the door, the bar and a server station can each check IDs. Owners set up venues, staff and settings in the AgeShield web hub; staff download the app and sign in with the credential the owner issues.

Plans: Core from $41.58 a month billed yearly ($499 a year) or $49 month to month. Pro from $58.25 a month billed yearly ($699 a year) or $69 month to month, adding custom groups and visit tags. Extra devices can be added. The first venue gets a 14-day free trial with every Pro feature on.

AgeShield reads IDs with the phone camera. It does not do ultraviolet or infrared checks of the card, which need dedicated hardware.