Now, Amazon lets you pay with your palm
Amazon is building on its physical retail ambitions with an innovative new technology that lets you pay with nothing but the palm of your hand. The system is described as 'Amazon One,' and the Jeff Bezos-led company is hoping to use it as a way to make retail activities more convenient and contact-less than ever. Here is all you need to know about it.
What exactly is Amazon One?
In simplest terms, Amazon One uses an AI recognition technology that relies on a unique 'palm signature' to identify a person. According to the e-commerce giant, people opting for this system will be able to make payments at POS counters or gain entry into restricted locations like gyms, office buildings, or certain retail stores by scanning their palm at a dedicated Amazon One device.
Palm signature is created using computer vision
To start with Amazon One, one has to share their card, mobile number, and palm data. The sign-up process takes less than a minute as you just need to insert the information and hover your hand over the dedicated machine. It immediately uses computer vision to record your palm signature - lines, ridges, and vein patterns - and associates it with the submitted information.
Once signed up, payments will become more convenient
Once a person signs up for the service, Amazon says, several retail activities will become quicker and seamless for them. As of now, the company has enabled the technology as an 'entry option' at two of its Amazon Go stores in Seattle. Moving ahead, it will make the technology available at more of its physical retail locations.
You just need to scan for a second after registration
Speaking on the system's working, Dilip Kumar, the Vice President of Physical Retail & Technology at Amazon, says that "You'll just hold your palm above the Amazon One device at entry for about a second or so, and be on your way. It's that simple."
Third-party retailers will also get this technology
Notably, Amazon is not keeping the novel system to itself and will be licensing it to interested third-party businesses, although no customer names have been revealed yet. Kumar emphasized, "Amazon One has broad applicability beyond our retail stores, so we also plan to offer the service to third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that more people can benefit from this ease."
Data will be stored on the cloud
Kumar says that their devices use multiple security controls to protect the collected user data. Moreover, palm images, which are considered more private than other biometrics, are not stored locally but encrypted and sent to a custom-built highly secure servers in the cloud for processing. Users are also given the option to delete their data after signing up for the system.
