Amazon Introduces "Amazon One": Cashless "Pay by Palm" Technology for Contactless Payments

@WholeFoods. https://t.co/fizfZIDo3P

— Andy Jassy (@ajassy) July 20, 2023

Key Takeaways:

• Amazon introduced "Amazon One," a cashless payment technology using palm recognition for contactless transactions.
• The service will be available for payment, identification, loyalty membership, and secure entry at over 500 Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh locations across the US by the end of the year.
• Customers can link their Prime membership with Amazon One to apply savings and benefits to their purchases.
• The technology is already in use at 200 locations in 20 US states and is set to expand further.
• Amazon One uses unique "palm signatures" based on the palm and vein structure for secure and unreplicable identification.

Dive Insight:

Amazon's latest innovation, "Amazon One," is revolutionizing cashless payments by introducing palm recognition technology. The service enables customers to make contactless transactions for payment, identification, loyalty membership, and secure entry at more than 500 Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh locations cross the US.

Paying with your palm via Amazon One is a pretty great experience, and customers have been “voting with their palms” for many months now. By end of year, you won't need your wallet to pay when checking out at any of the 500+ U.S.

The simplicity of Amazon One's palm recognition offers a seamless payment experience for customers, eliminating the need to carry credit cards or use smartphone-based payment methods like Apple Pay. By just hovering their palms over the Amazon One device, subscribing customers can easily complete transactions.

Prime members also stand to benefit from this technology as they can link their membership with Amazon One, allowing them to enjoy savings and benefits during their purchases.

The widespread adoption of Amazon One is already well underway, with the technology available at 200 locations in 20 states. However, Amazon has ambitious plans to expand its usage to cover more than 500 Whole Foods stores by the end of the year.

Other businesses are also embracing the convenience and security of Amazon One. For instance, Panera Bread allows customers to wave their hands above the device to access their MyPanera loyalty account and pay for their meals, while Coors Field Stadium in Colorado uses the technology to verify customers' age when purchasing alcoholic beverages.

One of the most crucial aspects of Amazon One's appeal is its robust security measures. The technology creates unique "palm signatures" for each customer based on the palm and underlying vein structure. This makes replication virtually impossible, ensuring secure identification and transactions.

Amazon emphasizes that palm recognition is one of the safest biometric methods, as it cannot be used to directly identify a person. Moreover, customer palm data is securely stored in the AWS cloud, and the company assures that it will not be shared with third parties or government entities in response to demands.

Customers can pre-enroll online using their credit or debit card, Amazon account, and phone number to register their palms with Amazon One. The enrollment process is completed by scanning their palms on any Amazon One device.

Overall, Amazon One represents a significant step forward in the realm of cashless payments, providing a convenient and secure solution for customers and businesses alike. The technology's expansion to more locations and its integration with other services will likely drive further adoption, transforming how people make transactions in the future.