Amazon has unveiled plans for a substantial rollout of its palm-scanning payment technology, known as Amazon One, across the United States.
The retail giant announced that this cutting-edge biometric payment system will be implemented in all 500+ Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market stores nationwide by the end of the year.
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Customers can make purchases by simply hovering their palm over a reader device, which then identifies their unique palm signature and charges the associated payment card on file.
Since its launch in 2020, the feature has gained significant traction, with over 3 million uses across more than 400 locations in the U.S.
This expansion includes Amazon’s retail stores, Amazon Go convenience stores, various sports stadiums, entertainment venues, and travel retailers like Hudson, CREWS, OHM at multiple U.S. airports, and a partnership with Panera Bread announced earlier this year.
Among the stadiums using the feature are Bridgestone Arena, Climate Pledge Arena, Globe Life Field, Lumen Field, T-Mobile Center, T-Mobile Park, NASCAR Raceway, and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. Additionally, entertainment venue Hollywood Casino at Greektown in Detroit has also embraced the technology.
This innovative system has gradually been introduced to select Whole Foods locations in several states, with more than 200 stores currently offering the service.
However, the nationwide expansion will now enable all Whole Foods shoppers to make purchases using their palms, eliminating the need for wallets or phones.
Moreover, Amazon Prime subscribers can link their Amazon One profile to their Amazon account and enjoy automatic savings as a membership perk.
To use this feature, customers can easily pre-enroll via the web, providing their credit or debit card details, Amazon account, and mobile number.
The enrollment process is completed when they scan their palm for the first time at a participating Whole Foods location. Alternatively, they can choose to register at any device in-store.
Whole Foods Market’s Chief Technology Officer, Leandro Balbinot, expressed excitement about the expansion, stating that customers have embraced the convenience offered by the feature over the past two years.
Amazon assures its customers that their information is secure on its own AWS Cloud, protected by multiple security controls.
Furthermore, the company claims not to use the palm image but rather a palm “signature” based on the underlying vein pattern for identity matching.
While Amazon’s introduction of biometric payments aims to enhance customer convenience during checkout, the company’s integration of biometrics with payment card information and Amazon accounts opens the door to tracking customers in both online and offline settings.
This enables highly personalized advertisements and recommendations, which could significantly boost the retailer’s revenue.
Addressing privacy concerns, Amazon has asserted that it will never share palm data with third parties, except in response to legally valid and binding orders from the government.
The proprietary combination of palm and vein imagery used by the feature makes it unmatchable with data from other sources, rendering it unusable to third parties.
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The company has clarified that it does not use customers’ palm data for marketing purposes and will not sell or buy such data for advertising purposes.
Additionally, when customers use Amazon One at third-party locations, Amazon will not track their activities or purchases after they enter the premises, intentionally separating the data from their biometric identity.
