Number of the Day
Amazon’s Black Mirror Moment, by the Numbers
The e-commerce giant’s new technology brings biometrics to shopping
51%: That’s the percentage of Americans who have used some form of “contactless payments,” since the pandemic began, according to survey data from Mastercard.
A highly contagious pandemic has obviously played a role in accelerating the trend of consumers turning to tap-to-go credit cards, like Apple Pay. But the latest twist comes from a retailer whose power and ubiquity has also been enhanced by virus-inspired changes to shopping habits: Amazon. The company is experimenting with “new biometric technology” at some of its Amazon Go physical convenience stores in Seattle. According to an excitable Vox report: “The first time they register to use this tech, a customer will scan their palm and insert their payment card at a terminal; after that, they can simply pay with their hand.”
While “pay with your hand” — more precisely, waving your hand over a scanner, without actually touching it — may…
