Palm Scan Feature Will Allow Whole Food Customers To Pay For Food

Whew, this technology is getting cool but scary, depending on who you ask.

On Wednesday, Whole Foods announced that its parent company Amazon would implement its palm-scanning technology, giving customers the ability to pay in checkout lines. The feature will launch in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, the New York Post reported.

The use of palm-reading technology came out in September 2019 and was seen as controversial.

The technology uses Amazon One technology and has been placed in a dozen of the company’s Amazon Go convenience stores. The system can use high-tech imaging and algorithms to create and detect a “unique palm signature” that picks up the ridges, lines, and veins of a person’s hand.

Shoppers will link a credit card the first time they use the palm print, and after that, they will be able to pay using the scanner by placing their hand over the system. Customers don’t have to touch the scanner due to its high-tech sensors.

However, other payment options will still be offered to customers.

“At Whole Foods Market, we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers,” said Arun Rajan, senior vice president of technology and chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market

For those wondering where this sensitive and personal palm information is stored, according to the outlet, images used by Amazon One are encrypted and kept in a “highly secure” cloud. And if customers wish to opt out, their information can be deleted from the data.

The new feature will also speed up the time it takes to check out. A regular card transaction can take up to three and four seconds, but the palm technology can process the payment in less than 300 milliseconds, a source close to the project said.