We are talking about contactless payments using palm reading.
Its name is Amazon One, a service that uses the fact that we have a unique palm to authenticate purchases and allow access to closed locations such as offices, gyms and stadiums.
At the moment we will only see it in two Amazon Go stores, so we don’t have to go through an ATM or the supermarket checkout. Both stores are in Seattle, and to use the service you must first register by entering your credit card and following the on-screen instructions on the scanner. Once the card and the palm have been matched, we can enter the store by leaving the palm on the device for approximately one second, as shown in the image.
Although it is a pilot, somewhat in testing, Amazon believes it will be able to expand to additional Amazon stores, such as bookstores or Whole Foods Market locations, in the coming months. It will also offer the service to third-party retailers and other companies that may find the technology beneficial.
The use of the palm of the hand as a biometric identifier allows customers to control when and where they use the service, as it is not a natural gesture and cannot be done involuntarily.
When you place your palm on the Amazon One device, the technology evaluates multiple aspects of your palm. No two palms are the same, so we analyze all these aspects with our vision technology and select the most different identifiers on your palm to create your palm signature.
About the data collected, Amazon says it does not plan to store or monetize it. Palm images will be encrypted in a “highly secure area in the cloud”, and never locally in a store scanner.