Amazon has announced plans to halt the Amazon One palm-recognition payment system, aiming to withdraw all palm readers from physical locations.
The decision to remove all palm readers and end Amazon One palm-recognition payments by 3 June 2026 is based on decreased customer adoption.
According to a notice posted on Amazon’s website, which was later confirmed in an emailed statement, the company plans to progressively withdraw Amazon One devices in stores. For some locations, Amazon intends to remove the payment system earlier than the June deadline. A spokesperson said that this comes as a response to limited customer adoption, with the company also mentioning that all customer data linked to the service will be deleted.
At the time of writing, Amazon did not offer any further details on the move. However, it said that the solution will continue to be available for patient check-in at existing healthcare locations until further notice. If they desire to do so, users can manually unenroll from Amazon One directly through the company’s support page.
Drawing back from retail testing
Introduced in 2020, Amazon One enabled opted-in customers to pay or check in by scanning their palm after registering a payment method. After being available in only two Amazon Go locations in Seattle, the payment technology then scaled to more locations, including Whole Foods Market and third-party venues like Panera Bread.
Amazon One usually functioned together with Amazon’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology, utilising cameras and sensors to automatically charge shoppers for their bought items as they leave the store. Even if the company withdrew Just Walk Out from Amazon Fresh locations back in 2024, it continues to scale the technology at a broader level.
The announcement regarding Amazon One comes on the heels of Amazon just closing all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, which accounted for 72 locations across the US. The company intends to direct its attention towards its US physical grocery strategy on Whole Foods Market, as well as more efficient online grocery delivery.
Furthermore, Amazon's discontinuation of Amazon One reflects the complexity of expanding biometric payment systems, despite contactless payments and digital wallets continuing to gain traction and checkout-free retail models developing.
