Tencent announced a partnership with Visa (NYSE: V) to introduce its palm recognition technology for digital payments in international markets.
The service will first be rolled out in Singapore, where Visa cardholders from participating banks, including DBS, OCBC, and UOB, will be “part of the pilot program.”
Pilot users are now able to pay with their palms at Alchemist, a café in Singapore, with expansion plans in the future.
Yang Wenhui, General Manager at Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific, announced the partnership.
Mr. Yang introduced the principles and advantages of Tencent Palm’s palm recognition technology, showcasing the innovation of Tencent Palm in user experience and technology application.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore, Tencent SenseTech Pte. Ltd, Tencent will provide a series of diversified services, such as “technical support, to clients from various industries, and comply with data localization requirements.”
Tencent is open for collaboration from various industries to explore the application of “palm recognition technology in more use cases.”
Adeline Kim, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei said that this innovative solution represents our commitment to providing a simple, convenient, and secure way for consumers to pay.
Kim added that based on their biometrics study, close to seven in 10 Singapore consumers see this “as a secure way to pay.”
Kim explained that their aim is to enhance the payment experience and ensure that our customers can make “seamless transactions with the highest level of security.”
Participating pilot users will have to do a one-time enrolment at the merchant point of sale, where they will be invited to “tap their Visa card, scan their palm and complete a one-time authentication to enroll.”
They can use their palm to pay subsequently. Once they have enrolled, a Visa payment token will be bound to their palm biometric template, allowing them to make “future payments at participating merchants by simply waving their palm – no cards or phones required.”
Moreover, pilot users can be assured of “safety and privacy, which are the utmost priorities in Tencent Palm services.”
Tencent has developed hardware and software that can recognize individual palms in “extreme lighting conditions.”
Tencent Palm features a process that verifies palm prints and unique patterns of veins under the skin, ensuring accurate readings.
User data is encrypted for storage in a manner that is “irreversible, preventing decryption, theft, or reuse by other third parties.”
