The rise of pay by palm: how biometric payments are changing the game
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In 2024, biometric payments surged to an estimated $1.4 billion globally, and the numbers continue to rise as more consumers and businesses embrace the technology. The digital economy is evolving rapidly, and payment methods are at the forefront of this transformation.
Biometric payments, particularly "pay by palm," are leading the charge, offering unparalleled convenience, security, and personalization. By using advanced biometric technologies, the payment process is gradually moving away from traditional media constraints, reaching a new level of greater intelligence and personalization.
This article will explore the current state of biometric payments and their technological advantages, analyzing the features of this technology through the example of the "Pay-by-Palm" initiative jointly launched by Visa and Tencent. It will also look ahead to the future development prospects of biometric payments.
The development of biometric payments
In recent years, with the rapid advancement of technology, biometric technology has been quickly rising in the payment industry, becoming a highly regarded innovation.
This technology uses unique physiological or behavioral characteristics of humans, such as fingerprints, facial features, irises, palm veins, and voices, to achieve identity verification and complete payments.
The maturity of hardware technology and the popularity of smartphones and tablet devices have made this technology quickly enter people's daily lives. Additionally, the market's demand for convenient and secure payment methods has driven its development.
Today, biometric technology is not only widely applied in fingerprint payment but has also expanded to facial recognition payment, palm print recognition payment, voice payment and so on.
Its usage scenarios now cover unmanned retail stores, smart terminal devices, public transportation, and more, making it an indispensable part of the modern payment system.
Advantages of biometric payments
Efficiency: Pay anywhere, anytime
Consumers do not need to carry bank cards or memorize complex passwords, instead, they can complete payments using their personal biometric features. The entire process is quick and efficient, often completed within seconds, meeting the modern consumer's demand for fast payment.
Security: No possible fraud
Due to the uniqueness and non-replicability of biometric features, biometric technology significantly enhances payment security, effectively preventing identity theft and payment fraud. Combined with live detection technology, biometric payments ensure the authenticity of transactions, reducing the risk of false identity attacks.
Silkpay also offers a range of reliable payment solutions, helping merchants provide customers with a convenient and seamless payment experience. Silkpay supports merchants in Europe and the Americas, enabling them to accept a wide range of mainstream payment methods both in-store and online, including Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, WeChat Pay, and Alipay. This not only helps merchants expand their business scope but also enhances customer satisfaction and trust, bringing merchants a competitive advantage.
Visa and Tencent collaborate to launch Pay-by-Palm
On November 6, Tencent announced its Pay-by-Palm technology's overseas expansion plan and collaborated with Visa to introduce it into the international payment market. It will first be piloted in Singapore.
How Pay-by-Palm works
Pay-by-Palm connects users' palm recognition information with their bank cards, enabling payments using just their palm.
Pilot users can bind their bank cards with their palm information and activate the service in one step following the instructions on the palm recognition device. Afterward, users can complete payments by simply holding their palms over the sensor without needing a phone or wallet, streamlining the payment process.
Technical features and advantages of Pay-by-Palm
Pay-by-Palm boasts several notable advantages, including being impossible to forget and nearly impossible to forge, making the payment process more convenient and secure. This iteration of palm payment adopts a dual-factor verification method using palm prints and palm veins, significantly enhancing anti-fraud capabilities, and achieving the media-free, contactless and highly precise user experience.
Compared to traditional payment methods, Pay-by-Palm significantly improves efficiency in high-frequency payment scenarios. Additionally, compared to facial recognition, palm payment can reduce consumers' concerns about sensitive information, increasing their acceptance of the technology.
Security is also a key feature of Pay-by-Pal. Leveraging Tencent's advanced data encryption and financial risk control capabilities, user information is encrypted and stored in an irreversible manner, effectively resisting attacks from forged information and fully safeguarding payment security.
The future of biometric payments
Rapid growth
The biometric payment market is experiencing rapid growth. According to industry reports, driven by the increasing prevalence of mobile payments, advancements in biometric technology, and rising consumer demand for secure transaction methods, the market is expected to grow significantly in the next decade.
In 2023, the biometric payment market was valued at approximately $5 billion and is projected to reach $24 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 22%. This exponential growth clearly demonstrates the transformative potential of biometric payments in the global financial ecosystem.
Diversified usages
Biometric payment solutions are increasingly being integrated with IoT devices such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, and voice assistants, offering consumers more options for secure payments in various aspects of their lives.
At the same time, the usage scope of biometric payment technology is expanding, covering industries such as retail, dining, transportation, and healthcare.
For instance, facial scanning payment technology has already been adopted in the restaurant industry, where consumers can complete payments simply by looking at a camera. The popularization of this type of technology is constantly improving the user experience.
Conclusion
Biometric payments are profoundly transforming the global payment ecosystem. From fingerprint recognition to palm payment, this technology not only optimizes the payment experience but also provides merchants with greater competitiveness. Through the case of Pay-by-Palm, we can see the vast potential and innovative possibilities of biometric payments in the global market.
In the future, as technology continues to advance, biometric payments will continue to drive payment methods toward greater intelligence and diversification, becoming an indispensable driving force in the era of the digital economy. At the same time, Silkpay is supporting merchants with diversified payment solutions, helping them achieve success.
About the author: Silkpay
Based in Paris, Silkpay provides omnichannel and secure payment solutions to help physical stores and e-commerce in Europe and the Americas accept more than 30 of the world's most popular payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, CB, UnionPay, Alipay+, WeChat Pay as well as Asia-Pacific’s major e-wallets.
Silkpay is a winner of the LVMH Innovation Award. The company was also selected as a finalist for the "Money 20/20" Best Startup and in the "MPE Berlin” Startup Awards. Silkpay also won the "Best Fintech" awards from Capgemini and BPCE.
Silkpay helps merchants deliver the smoothest payment experience to their customers. We are a talented and international team driven by a single goal: to improve the customer experience and make payments simple and secure.
Source
https://www.tencent.com/zh-cn/articles/2201961.html