Amazon to Launch ‘One Palm Payment’ Across 500 Whole Foods Market Stores

Amazon is launching its "One Palm Payment" palm recognition service across more than 500 Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. by the end of the year.  

This means Whole Foods customers that use Amazon One’s payment system will no longer need their wallets or devices to check out – they can simply scan their palm over a kiosk to pay for their items. 

“For Prime members who link their Amazon One profile with their Amazon account, savings will automatically be applied,” the company wrote in a press release.  

While the service is already available in over 200 Whole Foods Market locations in the U.S., the eCommerce giant will roll out its service to more stores in the following months.  

Users interested in trying out Amazon One can pre-enroll online with their credit or debit card, Amazon account, and mobile number.  

To complete the enrollment process, they can head over to their nearest Whole Foods Market store and scan their palm over an Amazon One device. Once this is done, users will automatically find their savings and Prime membership benefits applied to their purchases. 

Amazon One was first introduced by the company in its Go cashierless stores before it made its way to Whole Foods Markets nationwide. 

It looks at both the user’s palm and their underlying vein structure to create a unique vector representation called a “palm signature” - making it impossible to impersonate, unlike credit cards and passwords.  

Additionally, it stores the palm data of its customers in the AWS Cloud, which is backed by over 300 cloud security tools and 100,000 security partners. 

Leandro Balbinot, chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market, shared that the company is always looking for new ways to improve its customers’ shopping experience.  

“Since we’ve introduced Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years, we’ve seen that customers love the convenience it provides, and we’re excited to bring Amazon One to all of our customers across the U.S.,” he explained.  

The latest developments are in line with Amazon’s efforts to push its payment service into various retail giants.  

Its state-of-the-art technology, for example, helps venues like Coors Field baseball stadium verify customers' ages to determine whether they can purchase alcoholic beverages without the need for a government ID.  

Companies like travel retailer Hudson, AXS, and Sodexo have also adopted the new payment method for their services.