"Palm Recognition: The Next Game-Changer in Digital Payments Beyond Mobile Wallets"

In the past year, many leading payment providers like WeChat, Visa, Amazon, and Mastercard have started to experiment with or even launch their own palm recognition payment systems. These rapid launches signal that the industry sees palm recognition as a highly convenient and secure biometric alternative to mobile wallets.

Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Asia-Pacific’s Head of Innovations, stated in February that biometric payments will become mainstream within the next decade. This prediction is supported by a surge in industry developments. In March, Amazon introduced Amazon One, its palm payment system, across Whole Foods Market stores in the US. Just last month, Mastercard tested its palm recognition payment in Uruguay in partnership with Ingenico. Visa also showcased its own palm recognition payment technology at one of its innovation centers in February, while WeChat’s system—launched in May of last year—is now available in subway stations and convenience stores in major Chinese cities.

Over the past decade, various biometric methods have been explored for payment authentication, including fingerprint, facial, iris, and voice recognition. However, none of these methods gained significant traction in the payments sector, with mobile wallets emerging as the next big thing.

Among these biometric methods, palm recognition stands out as the most suitable for payment authentication. Fingerprint recognition, for instance, requires physical contact with a scanner, which has become less appealing, especially after the global pandemic. Other methods like facial, iris, and voice recognition are not as practical or effective in all environments, failing to offer a seamless experience superior to current options. This makes palm print scanning an ideal choice, as it is as simple as waving a payment card or mobile phone with NFC over a POS terminal.