Energy Mart convenience stores in North Carolina are piloting Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon One biometric palm-scanning technology, the owner of the seven-store chain said Friday.
“Just after talking to Amazon, we were interested in that technology and that space. We thought we’d bring it in and try it,” said Bill McKibbin, who has owned Hendersonville-based Energy Mart since the 1970s.
The pilot began about a week ago, and it’s too soon to tell how it will go, McKibbin said.
Energy Mart is the second convenience-store chain to try the palm-scan payment technology, Amazon said. Three convenience stores in the Minot, North Dakota-based Enerbase c-store cooperative also are participating in a pilot of the biometric-recognition-and-payment system, which doesn’t take a print of the palm, just a visual image.
The system, called Amazon One, involves a kiosk where consumers input the credit or debit cards they want tied to the biometric data and then have their palms scanned for an image an Amazon One device will read for identification and payment, Amazon said. The e-commerce marketplace giant also operates small-format Amazon Go stores as well as the Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods grocery chains.
To make a purchase using the biometric system, consumers place their palms above the Amazon One reader device, and it automatically identifies them and charges their credit or debit card on file. This eliminates the need for consumers to pull out a credit card or a smart phone when making a purchase, Amazon said.
“These stores will deliver a convenient, contactless way to pay—helping c-store consumers checkout in seconds using their palm,” Amazon.com Inc. said in April.
Energy Mart hasn’t had a problem with long lines, but McKibbin said, “Some people are looking for an easier way to get in and out of the store.”
At a Hendersonville Energy Mart store CSP Daily News contacted, an employee confirmed, “We have had some people sign up for it.” But at the company’s Arden store, no one had tried it as of Friday, according to employee Faith Adams.
McKibbin said the company plans to try the technology for about two years. “We didn’t bring it in to solve a problem. We didn’t bring it in to create a problem either,” he said.