Amazon One Palm-Scanning Technology Arrives at Whole Foods Supermarkets in California

Whole Foods Market customers in California will no longer have to deal with their wallets and purses to pull out credit cards at checkout. Amazon announced that more than 65 Whole Foods Market stores in California would soon offer Amazon One, a payment service that allows customers the option to use the palm of their hand to pay at their local Whole Foods Market stores.

In a statement, Amazon said this is the first large-scale implementation of Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores, following successful launches in Seattle, Austin, and select stores in New York and Los Angeles.

The launch of Amazon One in California began with a first phase, bringing the system to Whole Foods Market stores in Malibu, Montana Avenue, and Santa Monica. This touchless payment system will be available in more Whole Foods Market stores in California, including other parts of Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz in the coming weeks.

Related Article: Three Important E-commerce Trends

Once customers have registered their palms with the Amazon One service and linked their credit/debit card (something that takes less than a minute), shopping becomes convenient and fast, said the company. When finished shopping, the customer goes to the checkout or point of sale, holds their palm over the device, and the system will charge the purchase to the card linked to their palm. 

How it works

The Amazon One device is designed to read the palm, leveraging multiple layers of distinctive features that make it the safest, easiest, and most convenient choice as an identification method. A proprietary imaging and computer vision algorithm process captures and encrypts the palm image within seconds. Then, the system uses the information embedded in the customer’s palm to create a unique signature that can be read each time it is used to pay.

In early May, Amazon One launched as a payment option at three Whole Foods Markets in Los Angeles, including locations in Silver Lake, Irvine, and Playa Vista. It is also available at the newly opened Amazon Style store in Glendale, the Whole Foods Market store with Just Walk Out technology in Sherman Oaks, and select Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores in California.