Amazon axes controversial payment method
February 1, 2026
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Amazon One is done.
You soon won’t be able to purchase for your Amazon orders with this payment method after the company announced it would be sunsetting this year.
Amazon One allowed customers to pay for their goods with a simple wave of a hand at brick-and-mortar Amazon and Whole Foods locations across the country. Come June 3, 2026, it will be a thing of the past.
In a comment to GeekWire, an Amazon spokesperson said the following: “In response to limited customer adoption, we’re discontinuing Amazon One, our authentication service for facility access and payment. All customer data associated with Amazon One will be securely deleted after the service ends.”
Amazon One, introduced in 2020, allowed customers to enroll with their information so that their biometric data could be used as a payment method in lieu of a traditional credit card or cash.
Had a customer not signed up for Amazon One prior to a store visit, they would not be able to use the palm scanners.
Amazon One’s short-lived usage came with rounds of backlash across the country as it was adopted by stadiums and concert venues, with many expressing concerns about surveillance and privacy.
In 2021, a bevy of musicians signed a letter imploring Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater to axe the usage of Amazon One.
The letter said that it’s “transforming these spaces into hotspots for ICE raids, false arrests, police harassment, and stolen identities.”
“Introducing palm scanning devices is a slap in the face to fans and artists that have fought so hard to promote safety for everyone at live events. It’s simply a matter of time before we hear of cases of palm scans misidentifying people in the ways that facial recognition has — often with violent and life-altering consequences — but most concerning of all is the fact that this new technology will make the data of thousands of people vulnerable to ongoing government tracking and abuse and malicious hackers,” the letter continued on to say.
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