Cennox Rolls Out UVC Keypad Cleaner For Safe Shopping

To help retailers safely reopen and safeguard customers as lockdown measures are relaxed, Cennox has rolled out a device to neutralize the coronavirus at payment terminals in retail locations following each transaction. The Cennox UVC Keypad Cleaner harnesses UVC light to take on viruses at point-of-sale (POS) credit card terminals, enabling merchants to keep shoppers safe and boost their confidence, according to an announcement.

The technology was created to work with the top 10 POS systems and can be tailored to fit a number of “alternative terminals,” according to the company. The casing goes around the retailer’s existing keypad and hits the device with UVC light, “neutralizing the virus in 30 seconds.”

Nick Cockett, the chief operating officer of the company, came up with the device at the beginning of the lockdown. A working prototype was created in less than two months. Cockett noted that the technology “is a unique, patented device at this crucial time for retailers when they need total confidence in the measures they put in place.”

“Many shoppers are going into supermarkets and retail stores under the false impression that a spray of bleach or alcohol solution will keep them safe, but research shows that these solutions can take up to 10 minutes to become effective,” Cockett said. “When you think of how many customers might use a payment terminal in that time, you begin to see how ineffective these measures truly are.”

The company said the device would help merchants get ready for a “new normal” as retail stores aim to make shoppers and workers as safe as possible while keeping their businesses running.

In separate news, an Ipsos survey found that American shoppers have identified certain conditions that would make them more comfortable going back to brick-and-mortar stores. Those include Plexiglass dividers at checkout, customer capacity restrictions in stores, face coverings issued by the company, staffers wiping down high-traffic zones and six-foot social distancing measures.