According to reports by BBC, Amazon has launched a new system for payment in their physical stores. This unique medium of payment called “Amazon One” allows customers to make payments by using the palm of the hand. The customers only need to show their palm for the payment to process. Amazon also stated that this method can be used by corporations and stores for admission authentication.
A unique method of payment
Amazon One works by scanning the images of a customer’s palm. To process their payment, customers only need to wave their palms in the mid-air for approximately a second. Amazon will first test this mode of payment in its two physical stores located in Seattle, USA.
According to sources, this mode of payment called “Amazon One” can successfully be used at all other retail stores as long as they have the relevant equipment at the counter. This equipment can allow an alternative method of payment or membership card swiping to be incorporated in traditional sales system. This mode of payment can also become a mechanism for entry verification in places such as stadiums and museums. This unique medium can replace the traditional method of swiping ID cards in order to check-in and out.
Customers will now be able to process a payment by using their palms
Palm scanning has been used for several years now for other commercial purposes, this method has been known for years now but no one has been able to innovate it to allow payments. Dr. Basel Halak from the Electronics and Computer Science School at the University of Southampton says, ‘Palm-based identification is based on capturing the vein patterns of the palm. These patterns are different for each finger and for each person, and as they are hidden underneath the skin’s surface, forgery is extremely difficult. In comparison with other forms of identifiers such as physical devices, this form of biometric authentication is based on physical characteristics that stay constant throughout one’s lifetime and are more difficult to fake, change or steal.’
Therefore, using the palm to make a payment is an affectively secure way designed by Amazon under the guise of “Amazon One.” This mode of payment can prevent any sort of fraud. Moreover, it is also secure for the customer. In many instances, customers face a privacy breach as a result of using their cards. Such a mode of payment is beneficial to the customer as well as the seller.
According to the information given by Amazon, registering for this mode of payment does not require the customer to open an Amazon account. To use this mode of payment, customers only need to insert their bank cards into the device installed at the store. Then they should follow the instructions visible on the screen to adjust their palmprints according to the position required for payment to process. Amazon also ensured its customers that the customer’s palmprint information will not be stored in physical stores.
