(Pocket-lint) – Amazon is bringing its palm-scanning checkout technology to 65 Whole Foods stores in California.
It’s the largest expansion of this technology so far, which was introduced in 2020 as part of the Amazon One payment system.
The roll-out has already begun, with Whole Foods stores in Santa Monica, Montana Avenue and Malibu accepting palm payments right now.
If a customer wants to use the new technology, they can register their palm print using an in-store kiosk.
They’ll need to provide card details, a phone number and agree to Amazon’s terms of service before enrolling.
Once it’s all set up, all they need to do is hover their hand over the scanner at checkout and the registered card will be charged – pretty neat.
In the interest of security, Amazon asserts that the scan images are not stored locally, and are instead encrypted and sent to a dedicated Amazon One cloud server.
Some Whole Foods locations have already been testing the palm-scanning tech, including stores in LA, Seattle, New York and Austin.
It was also already available at select Amazon Go and Fresh stores across the US.
For most of us, the idea of not having to pull out your wallet, or phone, to pay sounds pretty convenient, but some are less convinced.
Amazon collects a staggering amount of data on its customers, and this is only increasing as more consumers adopt Ring and Alexa-based smart home products.
Understandably, privacy advocates are skeptical, but for many others, the wallet-less future is enticing.
Writing by Luke Baker.