Tencent Holdings, the Chinese social media giant, has launched a new service in Beijing, allowing metro passengers to pay for rides using only their palms through its WeChat Pay service, known as Weixin Pay domestically.
Users who enrol in the palm-recognition service can pay for rides on the Daxing Airport Express Line by scanning their palms at metro station turnstiles. The unique palm print triggers an automatic payment through the user’s WeChat account.
To register, passengers must have their palm prints taken at a designated machine at a metro station. Once registered, they can simply use their palms at turnstiles marked with a green circle. In a statement, Tencent explains that the technology relies on the recognition of surface-level palm prints and veins in the hand. Development was carried out by Tencent’s YouTu artificial intelligence lab.
The palm payment service aims to provide a seamless and secure payment experience for Beijing metro riders, integrating biometric technology to enhance convenience and leverage artificial intelligence and mobile payment solutions to redefine everyday transactions.
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