Palm technology is the next step of waving your phone for payment or showing your license for identification.

Many will look at this as something Amazon is trying for their stores. Yes, the stores will prove this out, but the big bucks for Amazon will be licensing the technology so I can pay for the morning coffee I am drinking, my taxi or subway ride, dinner, or entrance to a sporting event.

I propose that most consumers would feel safer with contactless payment via NFC than using some personal physical feature. They both work. They are both fast, but one does not create the possibility of intrusion into one’s physical characteristics.

Palm-based identification for payments doesn’t seem significantly better or faster than mobile payments, which are also contactless. It will likely be a mixed bag of adoption, as some will like the novelty of the technology and others might feel it violates their privacy, similar to facial recognition.

Waving your palm over a scanner to pay for your groceries? Nothing needs to be that convenient.

Every time I hear of this I envision Miss Cleo standing by the exit door reading palms on the way out “I predict you will return this item at a Kohl’s store!”

With the concerns about face recognition and other security threats, this is likely going to be a hard sell in my opinion. Contactless payment from phones or other methods seem like a less complex option, especially considering customers often change which bank account or payment method they want to use.

While palm-based tech adoption will rise, it will take time for Amazon to shape consumers’ habits and earn their trust. Privacy protection, robust cybersecurity and zero data breaches are imperative to ease consumers into biometrics.

More consumers now feel comfortable with contactless, cashierless checkouts. As attitudes shift, efficient palm-scanning tech grows in attractiveness. Palm-scanning tech could very well expand beyond Amazon stores and the Astros’ stadium to Starbucks and Sainsbury’s for seamless experiences.

Was this a “Palm Pilot?” Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

Seriously, this is very confusing to me. Does a store have both palm reading and Just Walk Out at the same time? And if my phone (and Clear) can use one or two fingerprints, why is my whole palm needed to go shopping?

I like Apple Pay, I like contactless credit card payments, but if I have to lay my palm down to pay, that means I have to put all that other stuff away to free up my hand.

I have a lot of other detail-type questions, but it seems these concepts don’t like to deal with details. I don’t think this bird is going to fly.

There are many different contactless ways to pay that don’t involve biometrics. People are very comfortable in using their phones to make contactless payment but I think any technology that uses biometrics is a bridge to far.

In my comment above, I suggested where and how the palm technology might be used. I completely forgot about a place it is used regularly — NYU Men’s Health Center.

Palm payment is a novelty that some shoppers will like, but most won’t. Consequently, there won’t be widespread deployment nationwide. Biometrics in the supermarket checkout lane is indeed a bridge too far.

I think most people still view fingerprints and biometric data to be the last barrier for commerce since it is so affiliated with law enforcement applications. The fact is all the transactions are tracked the same way whether it is credit card or biometrics is besides the point. I think it is a bridge too far for many consumers if they are given a choice.