Reaching Closer to the Next Era of Contactless Payments

Human beings, as we know, tend to excel in many different areas, and yet there is nothing we do better than growing on a consistent basis. This progressive approach, on our part, has already got us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology emerging as a major member of the stated group. The reason why technology enjoys such an esteemed stature among people is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which ushered us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look up close for a second, it will become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component was, in fact, what gave the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and consequentially, kickstarted a tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went on to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving such a monumental feat, technology will somehow continue to produce all the right goods. The same has turned more and more evident in recent times, and assuming a new fintech development shakes out just like we envision, it will only make that trend bigger and better moving forward.

Amazon has officially confirmed that its palm-reading payment technology, Amazon One is set to be deployed at Panera Bread locations across US. According to certain reports, the deployment won’t just allow customers to pay rather conveniently by scanning their palms, but it will also let them collect their membership rewards in the process. Although linking your MyPanera account with the Amazon One account isn’t mandatory, the customers who choose to do it can expect an enhanced experience in the context of receiving tailored meal recommendations based on their prior orders and preferences. Apart from that, it will also get the Panera stuff to greet you by name and communicate about your available rewards. In case you haven’t been keeping up, Amazon One came on to scene in 2020, right when the pandemic was triggering more contactless payments than ever before. Beyond that, Amazon also marketed the technology as a more private form of biometric authentication compared with other methods, considering you cannot determine someone’s identity from their palm print image alone. Anyway, in 2021, the company started using the system across some of its own retail stores like Amazon Go convenience stores, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, and Amazon 4-star stores. Once all the concerns regarding its feasibility on the large-scale were gone, Amazon One expanded into several airports and stadiums.

Coming back to the development in question, it’s the first time a restaurant has pledged to deploy Amazon One’s new loyalty card linking functionality. However, the stated functionality won’t be the only new thing about Amazon One moving forward, as the customer can now also access a pre-enrollment feature. Available only for first-time customers, the feature can help you in kickstarting the entry process before you even get to the store. By pre-enrolling into Amazon One, customers can avail a unique code, which they can then use to seamlessly complete their enrollment at the relevant location.

“At Panera, we’ve always grounded ourselves in the warmth we share for our guests and our associates, and we look at technology to find ways to make that experience better,” said George Hansen, SVP and Chief Digital Officer at Panera Bread. “So for us, this is a way to make the guest journey even more efficient and personalized, through a contactless, fast, and secure process so that they can enjoy what they love about Panera quicker and easier. Partnering with Amazon brings a scale and network that is attractive to us,”

To get the ball rolling, Panera will integrate Amazon One at two of its cafes in St. Louis, and if everything goes well, this number should reach somewhere between 10 and 20 by the end of 2023.