Amazon Adopts Contactless Palm-Scan Payment at Whole Foods

by Fionna Agomuoh | The Street

Amazon – Get Report said on Wednesday that it would begin using biometric technology as a method of payment at Whole Foods stores in Seattle.

The technology, called Amazon One, enables shoppers to pay for their items by scanning their palms.

The system associates a credit card with a customer’s palm print. It’s a contactless alternative to cash and card payments, the Seattle tech and online-retail giant said in a statement.

It expands the brand’s Just Walk Out contactless-payment technology, which is in use at the Amazon Go and Amazon Books retail locations. Customers there simply pick out what they want and leave the stores. Their purchases are automatically recorded and billed to them.

Amazon will deploy the palm-scanning system first at the Whole Foods Market store at Madison Broadway in Seattle and in coming months at seven other stores in the metro area.

Amazon earlier introduced the option in September 2020 to its Seattle-area retail establishments, including Amazon Go, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star, and Amazon Pop Up.

“[Thousands] of customers have signed up for the service, and feedback has been great,” Amazon said. [“Customers] have shared they appreciate how quick it is to enroll and use, and that its contactless nature has been helpful in our current environment.”

Amazon One does have its critics, with some saying the technology could result in job cuts, Reuters reports.

Amazon says the system won’t affect jobs at Whole Foods as “Amazon One still requires scanning items at checkout.”

At last check Amazon shares were trading 0.5% lower around $3,317.