The Concept: Identity verification across the retail environment currently relies on manual checks by associates, which introduces human error, liability, and significant guest friction. By partnering with the CLEAR identity network, we can replace outdated physical ID checks with secure, biometric verification for both guests and associates.

Frictionless Guest Services

Manual ID checks slow down the checkout process and open the business up to fraud. Integrating CLEAR into the Ulta app and in-store POS fundamentally upgrades three major guest touchpoints:

• Secure Order Pickup: Currently, guests must remember to bring their physical ID for Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) orders, and associates must manually verify the name matches. By prompting the guest to link their CLEAR profile to their Ulta Beauty Rewards account during online checkout, in-store pickup becomes entirely frictionless. The guest simply completes a secure face scan at the register. This eliminates the frustration of forgotten IDs and mathematically reduces the risk of order fraud.
• Streamlined Credit Card Applications: Applying for the Ulta credit card in-store is often slow and prone to manual data entry errors. Under the new workflow, the POS terminal generates a secure QR code tied directly to the associate and the transaction. The guest scans this code with their smartphone and verifies their identity via CLEAR. Because CLEAR shares highly vetted, bank-grade identity data directly with Comenity Bank, this massively reduces manual data entry errors, lowers the "Bank Needs More Info" denial rate, and significantly boosts overall card conversion rates.
• Cardless Account Lookups: When a guest forgets their Ulta credit card at home, associates currently have to navigate a manual account lookup process that requires a physical ID. With CLEAR integration, the guest simply provides their Social Security Number and completes a quick face scan on their mobile device or the associate's Verifone Victa Mobile. This guarantees a secure match without needing a physical ID card, while completely shifting the liability and compliance burden of identity verification away from Ulta and onto CLEAR.

Empowering the Associate Experience

CLEAR integration doesn't just improve the guest journey; it fundamentally streamlines how our own team interacts with our hardware and HR systems.

• Remote Onboarding Verification: Currently, new hires have to spend valuable time during their first in-store shift completing manual I-9 and identity verification paperwork with a manager. By utilizing CLEAR, new associates are emailed a secure link to complete their identity verification at home, on their own time, before they ever step foot in the store. This drastically reduces in-store onboarding overhead and frees up management.
• Unified Biometric Single Sign-On (SSO): Currently, associates lose valuable floor time typing complex email and password combinations into multiple store devices throughout their shift. With CLEAR, identity is linked across the ecosystem. An associate simply logs into their Verifone Victa Mobile multi-device once at the beginning of their shift using a biometric scan. For the rest of the day, that assigned device acts as their secure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) key, instantly granting them proximity access to physical registers, backroom computers, and all internal software seamlessly.