Amazon’s Palm Scanning Comes to Starbucks: Identity News Digest

Welcome to FindBiometrics’ digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:

Starbucks Trials Amazon’s Biometric Payments System

Starbucks has become the latest major fast food chain to trial Amazon’s palm-scanning payment system, Amazon One. A pilot is underway at a Starbucks location in Edmonds, Washington, where interested customers can register their palm biometrics in order to pay for their drinks and snacks with the wave of a hand, and no need to present a payment card or cash. Starbucks is following in the footsteps of the bakery and café chain Panera, which started trialling Amazon One at select locations in March.

Cerence Faces BIPA Lawsuit, Dynamic Manufacturing Settles

Cerence, the automotive voice interaction specialist, is now facing a potential class action lawsuit under Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit revolves around Cerence’s use of voice biometrics technology to identify users, alleging that the company failed to obtain explicit consent for the collection of the biometric data, and did not provide the proper disclosures required under BIPA. The plaintiff has demanded a jury trial for the case.

Illinois-based Dynamic Manufacturing, meanwhile, has reached a $1.8 million settlement of its own class action biometric privacy lawsuit, which concerned its use of a fingerprint-scanning time and attendance system. The company has not admitted wrongdoing, and the settlement awaits the court’s approval.

PE Firm Permira Takes Stake in BioCatch

The private equity firm Permira has taken a “significant” stake in the behavioral biometrics specialist BioCatch, becoming its third largest shareholder after Bain Capital and Maverick Capital. “We look to back product-first businesses operating in structurally growing end markets and that have management teams with the ambition to scale and grow their business,” explained Permira’s head of operations in Israel. “We found all of that in BioCatch and believe it is the clear leader in the most critical layer in online fraud detection — behavioral biometrics.” BioCatch announced earlier this week that its technology had been integrated into the anti-fraud tool of Onbe, a specialist in disbursements-focused financial technology.

FanDuel Integrates Prove Pre-Fill Solution

The online sports betting platform FanDuel is now using Prove’s “Pre-Fill” solution to streamline user onboarding by automatically generating bank-grade data from Prove’s authoritative sources in sign-up forms, and authenticating the identities of new customers. In a statement announcing the integration, Prove asserted that its solution can speed up account opening processes by 80 percent, and can enable onboarding in as few as three clicks.

Incode Provides Onboarding for Mama Money

Incode’s selfie-based identity verification technology is now being used by Mama Money, a South Africa-based money transfer platform. Users of the Mama Money mobile app are prompted to upload a selfie when registering, with facial recognition used to match them against their ID. The platform also provides sanctions screening, helping Mama Money to comply with AML and KYC regulations. “Partnering with Incode is another step we are taking to ensure our service is not only easier for customers to use but that our compliance and security systems are of the highest global standard,” said Mama Money CEO Nicolas Vonthron.

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May 4, 2023 – by Alex Perala