DARTMOUTH, NS – April 8, 2021 – Dispension Industries Inc. and ePortID LLC are embarking on a strategic exclusive relationship to transform the distribution of restricted products using palm vein biometric identity verification technology in tandem with unattended self-service kiosks. This partnership combines Dispension’s thought leadership in automated distribution of restricted products with ePortID’s expertise in biometric access control solutions.

The combined solution has great potential to solve hurdles faced by retailers and distributors of restricted goods such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, cannabis, psychedelics, nicotine/vaping and lottery products. Distribution of these products typically requires age or identity verification by human personnel which is costly from a staffing standpoint, unreliable as human ID checks can be scammed or faked, and unsafe due to the potential for exposure and transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. The combined Dispension and contactless ePortID technology has the potential to disrupt traditional human distribution methods by reducing costs, increasing access and throughput, and reducing public health and safety concerns.

Dispension is pioneering secure, trusted, intelligent self-checkout kiosks for restricted product distribution. ePortID’s integrated biometric access control technology allows the kiosks to effectively identify a person at the point of distribution in an unattended and contactless way. The combined solution is much more than a retail kiosk, it improves security, prevents theft, captures direct consumer data, reduces operating costs and protects frontline workers and customers. The data collected by the kiosks during each interaction allow restricted product distributors, producers, researchers and policy makers to better understand the consumer and their consumption behaviour.

In terms of security, Dispension’s kiosks are comparable to an ATM, only rather than identifying someone with a bank card, ePortID’s technology identifies people by the internal vein patterns in the palms of their hands. ePortID’s software leverages the power of the Fujitsu PalmSecure® scanner to provide the best biometric solutions on the market.

“It uses the highest accuracy biometrics on the market,” said Dispension President and CEO, Corey Yantha. “I can’t stress how important this is when operating in such highly regulated markets. With ePortID’s palm scanning technology, regulators have confidence in our kiosks’ ability to ensure that products can’t be accessed by anyone other than the intended recipient.”

Dispension’s kiosks, equipped with ePortID’s palm vein scanning access control system, are being used by the MySafe Society in a harm reduction initiative to reduce overdose deaths caused by deadly street drugs. The life-saving technology is being used across Canada to distribute a safe supply of prescription opioids to registered users who suffer from substance use disorder and have a dependency on fentanyl contaminated street drugs that can cause fatal overdoses. The project has received $3.5M from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program and will undergo formal evaluation by the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use to assess efficacy and potential for expansion.

“ePortID is proud to be an integral part of this technology solution that saves lives” said Paul Labow, President and CEO of ePortID.

Dispension Industries Inc. is a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based solution provider for restricted product distributors. Dispension’s data-driven SaaS platform has multi-industry application for controlled substance or restricted product distribution systems.

ePortID LLC was created to answer the growing demand for easy to use, reliable and accurate contactless biometric identity verification solutions. ePortID is a solutions development partner with FujitsuFrontech N.A.

For more information please visit www.eportid.com

Dispension Industries Media Relations, +1 833 801 9333, info@dispension.ca