Tencent partners with Visa to bring palm payment to Singapore

The service will be rolled out first in Singapore, for Visa cardholders from participating banks including DBS, OCBC and UOB.

The partnership was unveiled at the 2024 Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF2024), where participants were able to try out the 'Pay by Palm' solution at both Tencent and Visa booths.

Pilot users can pay with their palms at Alchemist, with expansion plans to be announced in the near future.

Yang Wenhui, general manager at Tencent Financial Technology Asia-Pacific, announced the partnership during his speech on the first day of the SFF2024, taking place from November 6-8.

Yang introduced the principles and advantages of Tencent Palm's palm recognition technology, showcasing its innovation in both the user experience and technology application, as well as its commitment to data security and privacy compliance.

"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 localisation requirements. Tencent is also open to collaboration with clients and partners from various industries to jointly explore the application of palm recognition technology in more use cases," said Yang.

"This innovative solution represents our commitment to providing a simple, convenient, and secure way for consumers to pay," said Adeline Kim, Visa’s country manager for Singapore and Brunei. "Based on our biometrics study, close to seven in 10 Singapore consumers see this as a secure way to pay. We aim to enhance the payment experience and ensure that our customers can enjoy seamless transactions with the highest level of security. Together with Tencent, we are excited to lead the way in transforming the future of payments."

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 enrol.

They can then subsequently use their palm to pay. 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 palms - 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 recognise individual palms in extreme lighting conditions.

Tencent Palm features a two-step process that verifies both palm prints and unique patterns of veins under the skin, ensuring highly accurate readings. Furthermore, user data is irreversibly encrypted for storage, preventing decryption, theft, or reuse by other third parties.

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