Hi everyone, is anyone doing fingerprinting? I have been getting a call about once a week requesting a notary for fingerprinting. I have not been offering this service. Is anyone doing this and do you have any advice on if it would be profitable?
Not asked to do that.
I stopped taking fingerprints when COVID became an issue, since we were using the same inkpad with everyone. I bought one supply of the strips from NNA, but I considered that an unnecessary expense. So, no, I no longer take fingerprints.
When I help with a car loan. I normally always have to get there finger prints
Fingerprintingis a skill. I offered hard card fingerprinting from 1999 until California went to live scan. Because I was in the yellow pages advertising the service, I still get a few random requests. Always from people wanting to get a firearm permit in another state. I still have my original fingerprinting board in a custom neoprene case. It’s really a niche service that should be advertised, and you will get clients. However, word of caution, if you screw up, you have to redo the entire set for free. Since there is no internet huckster selling this income opportunity as a six-figure side hustle, that even a dunce could learn, there is no real online support to get started except me. Someone who’s done it literally a thousand cards. I used to charge $25 per card, good pay in the 2000s, especially when companies would pay to have all their employees printed.
How do you train? Great question! Buy a package of 100 cards, gather up all your friends, and fingerprint each one of them until you develop your skills. The FBI will reject a card with even one smeared print, so you must grip each finger firmly, or if your client objects, let them do it themselves but caution them that they will pay for a rejected card.
Fingers must be clean and dry to obtain a usable print, and the pad must be large enough to get a full 4 fingers printed at the same time. You cannot use a thumbinker.
(side note) I fingerprinted a Saudi Arabian with a Canadian passport months before 911. I reported the guy to the San Diego FBI, they took down all my information and never got back with me.
I am doing ink fingerprinting. I don’t get a lot of calls, but every month I get maybe one or two. I had a hard time finding training so I volunteered for a year at the local police department. It’s nice to have but since live scan came around there isn’t a high demand for just ink anymore. The live scan or similar set up is way too expensive for me to consider as a business option since I am mobile notary, but if you have an office that customers can come too it might make better sense investment wise.