In the post-COVID era, everything we have learned about a world normally full of physical contact is bound to see a change. Reflecting the needs of a contactless world, e-commerce giant Amazon on Tuesday has unveiled a new biometric payment system using palm recognition.

The system called Amazon One was touted as “a fast, convenient, contactless way for people to use their palm to make everyday activities like paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, entering a location like a stadium, or badging into work more effortless.”

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The system will be first installed in Amazon Go retail locations, starting with two stores in its hometown of Seattle, Washington. The system was developed as “a quick, reliable, and secure way for people to identify themselves or authorize a transaction while moving seamlessly through their day.”

Amazon One makes use of an individual’s “unique palm signature,” an alternative to other biometric identifiers such as fingerprint, iris or facial recognition.

“No two palms are alike, so we analyze all these aspects with our vision technology and select the most distinct identifiers on your palm to create your palm signature,” Amazon executive Dilip Kumar said in a blog post.

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The US-based Amazon said the biometric data would be “protected by multiple security controls and palm images are never stored on the Amazon One device” but send to a “highly secure area we custom-built in the cloud.”

The company is “in active discussions with several potential customers,” which could include other retailers, however, offered no details