Amazon’s Palm payment tech is coming to a Whole Foods near you

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Amazon is expanding its palm-scanning payment system, Amazon One, to all Whole Foods locations across the United States.

This innovative system, which was initially tested in select Seattle stores, allows customers to pay for their purchases with a simple wave of their hand. The company is even testing the payment method in select Panera Bread locations.

Amazon One uses biometric technology to create a unique palm signature for each customer. This signature is linked to the customer’s credit card information, enabling a contactless and cashless payment experience.

The technology is designed to offer a quick, reliable, and secure method of payment, which could prove particularly beneficial in the current climate, where contactless transactions are increasingly favored due to health and safety concerns.

“We are always looking for new ways to delight our customers and improve the shopping experience,” Leandro Balbinot, chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market, said in Amazon’s press release. “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 U.S.”

Amazon One is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate advanced technology into everyday shopping, following on from initiatives like the cashier-less Amazon Go stores.

However, there are controversies surrounding the use of this technology. Critics are concerned about privacy and data security, questioning how Amazon will handle and store the sensitive biometric data it collects.

Amazon has tried to ease these worries by assuring that the data is encrypted and stored securely. Customers can also delete their data whenever they want.

Amazon expects to have these installed in 500+ Whole Foods locations by the end of the year. it will be interesting to see how consumers respond to it.

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Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.