According to a recent announcement from Amazon, all 500+ Whole Foods locations will have access to Amazon One, the company’s palm-scanning payment system, by the end of 2023. The contactless Amazon One payment system was first deployed by Amazon in 2020, but its growth by the end of 2023 will be the largest to date.
In other words, Amazon One is a different type of contactless biometric authentication like Apple’s Face ID that operates by the user screening their palm above a reader. However, Amazon One scans your palm’s ridges, lines, and distinctive vein patterns rather than your face. Someone can’t just take a photo of your palm and start stocking up on pricey cheeses at Whole Foods at your expense, thanks to this interpretation of deeper subcutaneous traits.
You may shop and make purchases without even having to bring your phone or wallet with you thanks to your palm signature, which is connected to your Amazon Prime account or just a credit card. Currently, 200 Whole Foods locations in the US as well as 200 other retail locations provide Amazon One. By the end of the year, Amazon’s rollout will increase the number of Amazon One payment outlets to over 700. Amazon One is also currently available at some Panera Bread restaurants and Coors Field in Colorado.
As of right now, Amazon One has “more than 3 million uses,” which is likely to indicate “transactions.” Despite sounding like a lot, three million is just roughly one million Amazon One transactions every year since its debut.
CardRates reports that there were 39.6 billion transactions made with credit cards in the United States alone in 2019 to further contextualize it.
However, it takes time for new technology to become widely used, and Amazon has made it clear that it believes the palm-scanning payment method has greater potential by expanding Amazon One to all Whole Foods stores.
The expansion was disclosed in a statement by Whole Foods Market’s chief technology officer, Leandro Balbinot. We’re thrilled to offer Amazon One to each and every one of our customers in the United States, he said. “We’ve seen consumers love the convenience it provides since we created Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years.”