Amazon introduces Amazon One; an innovative palm payment technology

By Pavithra R

Amazon as part of its continued effort to make customers’ lives better has announced the launch of a new innovation called Amazon One.

Amazon One is 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 service is built with security requirement in mind and uses custom-built algorithms and hardware to create a person’s unique palm signature.

Amazon is initiating the service launch with selected Amazon Go stores, where Amazon One will be added to the store’s entry gate as a convenient choice for customers to use to enter the store to shop. The company expects the product to become an alternate payment or loyalty card option in most retail environments, with a device at the checkout counter next to a traditional point of sale system. It also finds usage scope for entering a location like a stadium or badging into work, Amazon One could be part of an existing entry point to make accessing the location quicker and easier.

Amazon has started deploying the new service as an entry option at two of Amazon Go stores in Seattle. The company touts that it takes less than a minute to sign up at these Amazon Go stores and has also revealed receiving positive feedback from customers as they begin to make it available as an option for them in a range of locations and for a variety of uses.

For using Amazon One, the first step is to insert the user’s credit card. Next, users can hover palm over the device and follow the prompts to associate that card with the unique palm signature being built for them by Amazon’s computer vision technology in real-time.  Users can enroll with just one palm or both. Once enrolled, customers can enter these Amazon Go stores and hold their palm above the Amazon One device at entry for about a second and be on their way.

Recently, Intuit’s QuickBooks announced integration with Amazon Business.

The company is planning to further roll out the product in additional Amazon stores in the coming months and also add third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that more people can benefit from this ease and convenience in more places.