People shopping in Austin, TX can now pay the bill with a simple wave of the palm. This was made possible by installing the Amazon One device outside of Seattle, the New York Post reported. The device connects to the customer’s credit or debit card and can scan their unique palm signature in about a second, the report said.

This is another digital payment method launched for the convenience of shoppers. Other companies, such as the Anglo-Polish Walletmor, had earlier announced the commercial launch of implantable payment chips for this purpose.

“The implant can be used to pay for a drink on the beach in Rio, a coffee in New York, a haircut in Paris – or at your local grocery store,” said Walletmor CEO Wojtek Paprota. BBC.

The company released several photos and videos of the technology and how to integrate it into the human body. He said an interested user is given local anesthesia and a chip is inserted into their hand.

For Austin residents, the technology offered by Amazon One “provides a fast, reliable, and secure way for people to authorize a transaction,” according to director of product management Thi Luu, according to the To post.

The company has rolled out the feature to nine Whole Foods locations in Seattle. However, the palm-reading service has raised privacy concerns with some officials. Last year, in a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, ​​U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Bill Cassidy and Jon Ossoff raised concerns about the company’s biometric data collection practices.

But, when rolling out the technology in 2020, Amazon said the “Amazon One” device was protected by multiple security controls. According to New York Post report, in a statement, the company said: “The images are encrypted and sent to a highly secure area that we have customized for Amazon One in the cloud where we create your palm signature.”

Digital payments have accelerated over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has restricted the movement of people. It has also led to an increase in research on contactless payments and how secure they are.

Many credit and debit card companies now offer contactless payments to avoid touching surfaces such as POS machines. Then, some wearable devices – like smartwatches and wristbands – have also been equipped with a secure method for consumers to purchase products or services. QR code payments have also brought flexibility, especially in emerging markets, mainly because they are easy to use and inexpensive to implement.