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SuperVision scans stop payroll scams

transmetriX, the Cape Town-based software developer, has launched the SuperVision biometric system, one of South Africa's first high performance, low cost biometric time and attendance systems. The system uses fingerprint recognition technology to identify employees and record the amount of time they work. In doing so it eliminates time fraud, one of South Africa's greatest, yet most overlooked, crime pandemics. Biometric systems such as SuperVision can help to preserve jobs as the payroll savings they generate reduce the need for struggling employers to cut costs by making redundancies.

Time fraud, or 'buddy punching' happens when an employee punches in for a late running or absent colleague and is estimated to cost the South African economy millions of Rands each year. Instead of filling out or punching timecards, employees simply place their finger on the SuperVision scanner which identifies them instantly.

The SuperVision system exports data on all the hours worked directly to the employer's payroll program, reducing the administrative time taken to calculate payroll and the management time spent supervising the process. It also removes the need to buy an ongoing supply of punchcards, swipecards or other tokens required by traditional non-biometric time and attendance systems.

In addition, the system gives employers access to realtime information on the movements and whereabouts of their staff. For example, an employer can run a report at 9 am to identify who is late for work.

Transmetrix CEO James Redelinghuys says, "A strong Rand and the global slowdown have forced employers to look hard at the productivity of their workforce and take tough decisions about their headcount. Yet few of the companies currently making or considering redundancies have even begun to address time fraud. Statistics from the USA indicate that 'buddy punching' adds up to 15% to a company's payroll costs - by eliminating this time fraud and improving the efficiency of the whole payroll process companies can expect to see a very significant improvement in their bottom line. This may mean the difference between an employer being able to retain their full workforce or being forced to make redundancies."

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