Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - Facing facts'

I've been following the recent furore about Tesco's trial of face-scanning technology in its 450 petrol stations with interest. Apparently, the technology allows the camera to identify the customer's gender and approximate age and then deliver an appropriately targeted advert.

The targeting of adverts on web sites based on previous surfing history is well documented, the monitoring of spending through loyalty cards allowing targeted promotions has been around for several years, and the offering of free Wi-FI to facilitate the capture of data and routes to market is becoming ubiquitous. For a long time we've been told that the average person is viewed on CCTV an estimated 70 times each day even if the awareness falls into our subconscious.

This somehow seems to be a step further but is surely no surprise in an age of ever increasing technological sophistication and complexity. Just this week, I realised I'd left home without putting my pen in my suit pocket. Did I panic? No, I realised that almost all my note-taking, planning and writing is on my iPad and I rarely use a pen these days. I'd never have believed that would be the case even a couple of years ago but I genuinely couldn't imagine anything different now.

And so it is with credit management. I was at the ICTF conference recently which brings together credit professionals from across Europe. One of the sessions there was a workshop looking at the use of technology and how to identify and source the best solutions. As I travel around talking to credit people I'm made aware of the advances in the software and tools being used and, equally importantly, of its integration into legacy systems, processes and procedures. In most cases, it's about more than being increasingly efficient or saving cost, it's about being more effective and adding more value to the business.

Whether we like it or not, the evolution will continue and - to some extent at least - we have to embrace it if we want to maintain our position as individuals and organisations. Do I care if Tesco is working out my age and gender so that it can show me an advert I'm more likely to be interested in? When I think about it rationally, not really!