Burger King Selects Tokenworks ID Scanner to Verify Age

The first conventional Burger King in the United States to serve beer has chosen Tokenworks as their ID scanner provider. Most quick-serve restaurants in the country do not offer beer, wine, or other alcoholic beverages, but the Burger King located in New York City’s Financial District at 106 Liberty Street will soon be the exception to that rule.

Although Burger King experimented with beer offerings at their “Whopper Bars” in touristy locales a few years ago, the legal requirements, including location-specific alcohol regulations, and licensing issues often prevented the restaurants from selling beer. The Times Square Whopper Bar, for instance, shuttered after the city denied their liquor license. The Burger King at 106 Liberty Street, however, just blocks from the 9/11 Memorial Site, with its two stories and table service with wait staff upstairs, successfully petitioned the Financial District Committee for a beer license in early September.

One of the franchise owners, Rob Powell, said he has received numerous requests from patrons to offer beer on the menu, and he thinks it will add something to the dining experience, as well as augment the average receipt. Beer will be available only for dining in, and will be served in clear cups.

While the logistics involved with establishing alcohol sales can be formidable and costly, Tokenworks ID scanners make it easy and quick. Burger King has ordered an IDVisor 310 scanner with a large touch screen, which will read both magnetic stripe IDs and 2D barcodes from all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, and Military IDs. Operation is simple and fast, involving a swipe or dunk of the ID, and verifying age within one second. The speedy age verification is ideally matched with the expected pace of service at a fast food establishment. The software displays intuitive, color-coded icons after an ID is scanned, making it easy for an employee to interpret whether age requirements are met, or whether an ID is expired.

The software included with the IDVisor 310 ID scanner stores key transaction data, which is vital when proving an ID was checked, and making it compliant with state data retention laws.