On your next Whole Foods run, you may not need your wallet or even your phone to check out. The grocery store chain is adding biometric technology that will allow shoppers to pay with just a wave of their hand.
Whole Foods started testing their Amazon One palm scanners two years ago at two Amazon Go convenience stores and one Whole Foods store in New York City. It must have gone well because last week they announced that all 500-plus Whole Foods locations in the U.S. will have the palm recognition payment option by the end of the year. Amazon One is already available at more than 200 Whole Foods locations in 20 states and the rest will be rolling out throughout the year.
Your Amazon account can be linked to your Amazon One profile, so you won’t miss out on any in-store discounts by paying with your palm. On their website, Amazon explains that an Amazon One “palm signature” is encrypted and securely stored in the cloud, and that your palm scan can’t be duplicated or used without your permission. You do have to pre-enroll to get in on the single-handed checkout option, but the company says the signup only takes about a minute.
Source: Food and Wine
Photo: Getty Images