Amazon Tests Hand-Based Payments

Amazon is still trying to catch these hands. The company is piloting checkout tech that would allow customers to purchase items by scanning their palms, the WSJ reported yesterday. Amazon is working with Visa to test the system and is talking with the other big payment processor, Mastercard, about a partnership.

How it would work

Back in September, we heard Amazon was working on biometric scanner tech for retailers that reportedly relies on computer vision and depth geometry.

Now, Amazon Hand (my nickname, a work in progress) seems to be moving closer to implementation. The company wants to put specially designed checkout terminals in stores, scan customers’ palms to identify them, and process their transactions. WSJ sources said Amazon wants to send this purchase data to the cloud to build out more personalized customer profiles.

Big picture: Amazon is famous for being customer-obsessed. A biometric hand scanner could make checkouts more frictionless and help accomplish the company's lesser-known goals: building beachheads in brick-and-mortar retail and payments.