Melo Villareal
How the Blockchain Can Help Track Those Lost Keys
It’s no secret that people lose things like their car keys. Tracking down the last place you saw them takes time and energy, and sometimes costs money. It’s irritating as hell! Where are they!? I drove here, so they have to be somewhere.
Lost Keys
Now imagine this problem, but exponentially larger, with many keys and many people losing them across the country. This problem is costing rental car companies money to address.
Since we can’t remove the human element of losing things from the scenario, what can we do to address this wasteful use of resources and money? Blockchain technology for cryptocurrencies is evolving rapidly, and new applications are emerging; one such use is tracking lost keys.
Finding lost items is hardly brain surgery, but saving money and tracking where your keys are remain constant challenges for rental car companies. They rent cars out, and while a customer has one, they lose the keys or forget to return them. They may even board their flight home with the keys still in their pocket, putting hundreds or even thousands of miles between the business and its keys.
Car keys aren’t cheap either! It’s not like 20 years ago when the key would merely open your car; now keys will start your car, pop the trunk, open doors, roll down windows, and they are encrypted, so you can start your car without even entering the key into the ignition.
The average cost to replace one of these keys is $250 or more. This cost does not include key programming; you will need to program it yourself or pay a dealership to do so. You can see how this can quickly add up and take away from a company’s bottom line, all for someone losing their car keys.
You can typically rent a car for $12/day, excluding taxes, fees, and other charges. If you rent a car for one day and return it the next, even if you rent a compact car, the key usually includes a few convenience features.
If you lose that key and that car cannot be rented until a new key is purchased and programmed, the car rental company loses not only its daily revenue from loaning the car out, but it will need to rent that car out for over 21 more days to recoup the lost revenue of replacing that one car key. This problem needs to be solved.
A new blockchain-based project has identified that solving this problem could be a lifesaver for rental car companies. The XY Oracle Network, or XYO, is applying its pilot blockchain project to the rental car industry to solve the problem. Rental car companies that deploy the XYO network stand to save not only money from lost keys, but also the hours of staff trying to track down these lost keys, and enabling the rental car companies to get the cars back out to the next paying customer.
Car Keys
After the pilot with rental car companies, XYO can begin implementing this technology across other industries. Commercial airlines could use this technology to track lost or misplaced luggage. Another industry that would benefit from this location ledger is the security industry.
Security companies that manage multiple businesses and locations maintain keys and access to ensure they remain safe and secure. The security officers who routinely check these residences and/or businesses are required to track all keys, codes, key fobs, and other means of entering and securing a location.
If these keys are lost, they must report the issue to their customer. This issue not only reflects poorly on the business but also leaves the customer’s home or business unsecured until a resolution is reached. While most security companies are small, this technology, if made readily available, would directly benefit them and their bottom line. If a security guard loses access to a client’s property, a replacement must be provided and paid for by the security company.
After repaying the customer for the lost key, there is usually no guarantee the customer will remain with them following the mishap.
The pilot XYO Network has launched with a large rental car company, which can provide tracking information to help locate these keys and, in essence, save the company money and the industry millions each year. XYO’s platform has a trustless location ledger that both the customer and business can use to verify the lost keys. Providing both the company and the customer with the same level of access should also reduce disputes over whether the keys were returned.
While it’s not as common a problem in the rental car industry, this technology can also be used to track the location of rental cars. If a vehicle is lost or stolen, it can be equipped with a tracking device that is also logged in the open ledger for both the customer and the company to verify its location.
Using a crypto-location network means the tracked item (s) are logged in an open, verifiable ledger. This tracking allows someone to locate the items, and, with the security of crypto technology, it is considered tamper-proof. This technology would enable the rental car company to track its cars and keys at all times, reducing costs and increasing revenue. The question “Where are my keys!?” always has an answer.
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