WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Amazon on Tuesday unveiled a new
biometric payment system using palm recognition, to be made available to
rival retailers and also promoted as a replacement for badge entry at
stadiums or workplaces.
The system called Amazon One was touted as “a fast, convenient,
contactless way for people to use their palm to make everyday activities like
paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, entering a location like a
stadium, or badging into work more effortless.”
The US technology giant said it would be installing the system at its
Amazon Go retail locations, starting with two stores in its hometown of
Seattle, Washington.
Amazon vice president Dilip Kumar said the system was developed as “a
quick, reliable, and secure way for people to identify themselves or
authorize a transaction while moving seamlessly through their day.”
Amazon One uses each individual’s “unique palm signature,” an alternative
to other biometric identifiers such as fingerprint, iris or facial
recognition.
“No two palms are alike, so we analyze all these aspects with our vision
technology and select the most distinct identifiers on your palm to create
your palm signature,” Kumar said in a blog post.
In Amazon Go stores, the palm-waving system will be added to the store’s
entry gate as an option for shoppers.
“In most retail environments, Amazon One could become an alternate payment
or loyalty card option with a device at the checkout counter next to a
traditional point of sale system,” Kumar added.
The company said it was “in active discussions with several potential
customers,” which could include other retailers, but offered no details.
– Biometric blues –
The announcement comes amid rapid growth in the use of biometric payments
ranging from fingerprint verification on smartphones to more sophisticated
systems using facial recognition.
China’s Alipay — the financial arm of ecommerce giant Alibaba — has been
using a “Smile-to-Pay” system, with a machine roughly the size of an iPad,
for retailers.
The shift has also raised privacy concerns about how biometric data will
be safeguarded and protected from hackers.
Amazon said the biometric data would be “protected by multiple security
controls and palm images are never stored on the Amazon One device” but send
to a “highly secure area we custom-built in the cloud.”
Doug Stephens of the consulting firm Retail Prophet, said Amazon would
need to protect the data to gain user trust in the system to make it
mainstream.
“Biometrics as a form of ID/payment etc. has always made ultimate sense,”
Stephens said on Twitter. “The question is, will Amazon mainstream our
comfort with them or violate our trust?”