Amazon One service lets customers in the US pay with their palms

Whole Foods will start using the biometric technology in all of its more than 500 shops

A person waving their hand above the Amazon palm recognition payment system called Amazon One in Seattle. AFP

Shoppers at Whole Foods Markets in the US will soon be able to pay for their groceries with a simple wave of their hand.

The grocery store chain has collaborated with Amazon to implement a palm recognition service called Amazon One in all of its more than 500 shops. This means that all customers have to do is show the palm of their hand to the sensor to pay, rather than pull out a wallet or phone.

“We are always looking for new ways to delight our customers and improve the shopping experience,” said Leandro Balbinot, chief technology officer at Whole Foods.

“Since we’ve introduced Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years, we’ve seen that customers love the convenience it provides, and we’re excited to bring Amazon One to all of our customers across the US.”

What is Amazon One?

The payment system, first announced in October 2020, is based on biometric technology and works by reading a palm print.

According to Amazon, the difference between using the service and a credit card or password is that it can’t be replicated to impersonate someone else. Amazon’s website states that no two palms are alike. “Your palm is a unique part of you. It doesn't go anywhere you don't and can't be used by anyone but you,” it says.

Amazon also states that palm data is kept safe in their cloud which is secured by more than 300 cloud security tools and 100,000 security partners from around the world.

In another blog post, Amazon claims the biometric is more secure reading palms. "Amazon One is 100 times more accurate than scanning two irises. It raises the bar for biometric identification by combining palm and vein imagery, and after millions of interactions among hundreds of thousands of enrolled identities, we have not had a single false positive."

Currently the service is only being used in the US, however it isn’t only Whole Foods that has it. Other businesses such as Panera Beard and baseball stadium Coors Field have begun offering Amazon One as an identification and payment option for customers.