TSA Pre-check paves the way for biometric payments at MetLife Stadium

Airport security is coming to the sports stadium through a program initiated by Idemia, formerly known as OT-Morpho.

Designed to move fans through a Fast Pass entrance into the stadium and avoid longer security check lines, the technology also lends itself to future biometric technology that the New York Jets could use at point-of-sale terminals throughout the stadium for payments, according to Charles Carroll, senior vice president of identity and security at Idemia.

The agreement, the first between an NFL team and Idemia, calls for the Jets to test biometrics and other digital security technology possibly for payments authorization, Carroll said.

Idemia will provide its IdentoGO services for fan enrollment in TSA Pre-check status at MetLife Stadium for the NFL's New York Jets on game days. The Jets and Idemia agreed on a multi-year partnership this week for the services.

Fans enrolling in the program at an IdentoGO van in the stadium parking lot submit to a fingerprint scan and background check to establish themselves as "trusted fans," in the same manner travelers enrolled in TSA Pre-check are "trusted travelers."

Other major sports leagues have dabbled with faster entry into stadiums, in part to speed up ticket exchanges to allow more time for thorough security checks, but also to combine ticketing technology with payments inside the venue.

Six years ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team was one of the first professional teams to provide fans with a contactless entry and payment option inside the stadium through a chip embedded in the sleeve of the season ticket holder's souvenir hockey jersey.

Since then, various other examples of contactless payments and ticketing have made their way to sporting events, including Visa's efforts at the Olympics to last week's announcement that Major League Baseball, after a test with the Oakland Athletics, will have Near Field Communication scanners at entry gates.

Jets fans who previously qualified for a traveler's TSA Pre-check can bring their KTN, or known traveler number, to get through the Fast Pass entrance at the stadium.

“It is our mission and responsibility to make our security solutions, like the TSA Pre-check program, available to as many people as possible,” Didier Lamouche, CEO of Idemia, said in a press release.

“Our partnership with the Jets allows us to reach as many as 75,000 fans at each home game and enroll a high percentage of those people into the proven safe and secure program," Lamouche added. "We are thrilled to be working with such a world-class organization.”

The Fast Pass gate will not be in operation this Sunday, but the enrollment van will. Those who enroll will get $20 gift certificates to use inside the stadium. Fast Pass will be in operation for the rest of the 2017 home games, the Jets said.

OT-Morpho was the temporary name resulting from Oberthur Technologies' acquisition of Morpho this year to strengthen its position as a global payments and digital authentication provider.The group chose Idemia as its new name — standing for identity, ideas and a common mission, as stated through the Latin word idem.