Kiosk That Copies And Stores Keys Expands To Lowe’s Stores, Your Smartphone

(Atwater Village Newbie)

A few years ago, we shared the news that a company had placed do-it-yourself key duplication kiosks in some 7-Eleven stores in New York City. Since then, key kiosks (keyosks?) have expanded across the country, and the company that we wrote about back in 2013 has announced a deal with home-improvement megastore Lowe’s.

There are other key-duplication kiosks available, including MinuteKey, found in Walmart stores, and FastKey. They’re proliferating, and there’s probably one at a store near you. They can all duplicate a variety of keys, sometimes printed with decorative designs or cartoon characters. However, KeyMe is interesting because it has a feature that’s a boon for absent-minded people but a possible security nightmare: users can store keys either using their nearest kiosk, or by taking a picture of their key with the mobile app and ordering up a replacement through the mail. (This is less helpful when you’re locked out of your house, but still potentially useful.) Your ability to print saved keys from a store kiosk is locked down with your thumbprint.

This first batch of kiosks puts the machines in Lowe’s stores in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio. There are also kiosks in 7-Eleven stores and some other locations in and near New York City.

KeyMe [Official Site]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist