It appears the way people will pay is changing, and Australian retailers need to know. While not yet available in Australia, palm-based payment technology is gaining traction in the US. I see it appearing here soon.

What is Palm-Based Payment?

This technology links customers' unique vein patterns in palm prints to credit/debit cards. At checkout, a person whose palm is registered hovers their hand over a scanner. The scanner reads their vein structure and sends the details to the bank for payment authorisation. Such systems are already in use at select locations in the US. 

The Advantages for Retailers

• Seamless Transactions: Say goodbye to customers fumbling for cards or struggling to remember PINs.
• Time: Palm scanning offers faster transactions, saving shoppers and staff valuable time.
• Heightened Security: Biometric data is incredibly difficult to replicate, adding a robust layer of security and fraud protection. We now have a big problem with customers making transactions, paying by card, and then claiming it was not them. I had one client whose credit card was stolen, and by the time she found out, which was less than an hour, her card had been used in thousands of dollars of transactions.

The Disadvantages for Retailers

I confess I do not see any.

Still some issues to chew on would be:

• Cost: The readers may be expensive, and who pays for these palm scanners may be an issue.
• Integration: I do not see any potential integration issues with our point-of-sale systems, but if you do not use our POS System, you may want to make some enquiries.
• Privacy: I think we all feel a general uneasiness about our privacy. Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook once said the age of privacy is over, and he is probably right. Still, it's tough to accept this fact.
• Training: We all need to be trained on how to use it until we all get used to it. I can see someone using the wrong hand and not knowing why it is not working.

What Aussie Retailers Should Do

• Get Informed: Stay up-to-date on the latest developments in biometric payments.
• Monitor Customer Sentiment: Gauge your customers' comfort level with biometric technologies. Their openness will factor into adoption.
• Prepare for the Future: While immediate implementation is not necessary, consider how your payment infrastructure could adapt to support biometric options in the future.

The Takeaway

Palm-based payments and biometrics as a whole are set to transform the way we pay. While the timeline of widespread adoption in Australia is uncertain, being informed and prepared positions your retail business for success in this evolving landscape.