French supermarket to trial payment by…the palm of your hand

French supermarket Carrefour is bringing a whole new meaning to the question ‘How are you paying?’, as it trials a new system that takes neither cards nor cash, but the palm of the shopper’s hand.

Carrefour Market, in the 6th arrondissement in Paris near the île de la Cité, will trial the payment method from July 29. It is the first of its kind in Europe, Carrefour has said.

The technology - developed by payment terminal specialist Ingenico - works by ‘palm biometrics’ and uses the veins in your hand to validate the payment.

Before use, customers register their vein pattern on a dedicated terminal, and link it to their bank card. The customer can make a purchase by simply holding the palm of their registered hand over a dedicated payment terminal.

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“This system ensures a high level of security for personal and banking data,” said Carrefour. “[It] will make the checkout experience smoother and improve the customer experience.”

The roll-out date has been chosen specifically to coincide with the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, and the high influx of visitors expected in the capital during the events, the supermarket added.

The technology is already used by retail giant Amazon in its Whole Foods shops in the US (via the app Amazon One), and is also used in China, usually via the brand WeChat Palm Pay.

The video below shows a WeChat Palm Pay system in use in a convenience store in China.

Modern technology is beginning to use biometrics more and more; many smartphones already use thumbprint, iris, and face recognition for payments or other important validation tasks.