Amazon Launches a Palm Scanner for ‘Secure’ Payments

Due to COVID-19, many innovations are emerging to reduce the number of items one has to contact whenever they are out doing something. Amazon has responded to this by coming up with a contactless palm scanner for making secure payments at the various Amazon stores. Like other biometric scanners, the palm scanner also creates a unique digital signature for each individual, which puts its security level to the figure print. 

For Amazon’s, it is a biometric authentication system that scans your palm and verifies payment when you hover your palm over it for just a few seconds. It is through the patterns of your veins recorded by this scanner that a unique signature for your palm is created and then linked to your credit/debit card (for the case of payments). Every individual has a unique pattern aking pattern. It is almost impossible to have scenarios of forgery with this kind of authentication technology. 

Registering your palm with this system takes less than a minute – all you need is to have your debit/credit card with you. To register, you have to insert the card in this machine and then hover your palm above the scanner. The scanner will then project rays of light onto your palm to record the patterns of your veins. You will then have to follow a few prompts after that to completer the registration.

The advantage of using veins patterns is that they don’t change with age like other biometric properties. So, one doesn’t have to update their palm signature after a couple of years – it remains the same for a lifetime. This may not be the case with other biometric technologies like Facial recognition that could fail to recognize a face if one gets a deformation on their face.

The introduction of Amazon One is good news to several other industries since it can be used for many different applications besides Amazon’s retail stores. In their blog post, Amazon said this system could be used for other applications like scanning people entering stadiums or at offices to get details of workers that have shown up for work on a given day. 

This new authentication system is currently under test at two Amazon Go stores in Seattle with plans of rolling it out in several stores across the USA and the rest of the world soon. If you are an early adopter, you can try it out at one of the Go stores in Seattle. 

Amazon One may not be a new biometric authentication technology. However, with Amazon being one of the most innovative companies globally, this system is very secure and has the accuracy and efficient leveling. Its application in other industries besides Amazon’s stores is something we need to look out for.