Visa launches a new Pay with Palm feature with Tencent
Increasingly you can pay with anything - your face, your palm, your favourite log in time ...
Key takeaways
- Tencent Palm was showcased at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), where attendees could try out the Pay by Palm solution at both Tencent and Visa booths.
- The service will be rolled out for the first time as a pilot programme in Singapore.
- Visa cardholders from participating banks, including DBS, OCBD and UOB, will be able to pay by palm at Singapore's Alchemist café.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2024) 'Visa launches a new Pay with Palm feature with Tencent', 311 Institute, 24 November. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/visa-launches-a-new-pay-with-palm-feature-with-tencent/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
Increasingly you can pay with anything - your face, your palm, your favourite log in time ...
Visa has teamed up with tech conglomerate Tencent to launch a palm recognition system for digital payments in international markets. Tencent Palm was showcased at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), where attendees could try out the Pay by Palm solution at both Tencent and Visa booths.
The service will be rolled out for the first time as a pilot programme in Singapore. Visa cardholders from participating banks, including DBS, OCBD and UOB, will be able to pay by palm at Singapore's Alchemist café.
Tencent Palm features a two-step process that verifies both palm prints and unique patterns of veins under the skin, ensuring highly accurate readings. In addition, user data is encrypted to be stored irreversibly, preventing decryption, theft or reuse by third parties, Tencent said in a statement.
Users taking part in the pilot programme will have to sign up at the merchant's point of sale, where they will be invited to tap their Visa card, scan their palm, and complete a one-time authentication to enrol. After that, they will be able to use their palm to complete payments.
Tencent added it aims to provide complementary services, such as technical support to customers in various industries through its wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, Tencent SenseTech.
The tech specialist added it is open to collaboration with customers and partners in various industries to further explore the service application in different use cases. Visa said the pilot programme aims to expand Tencent’s palm recognition technology to new locations soon.
During a presentation at SFF, Yang Wenhui, general manager of Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific, said that Tencent's palm recognition technology introduces improvements in both user experience and technology application, as well as data security and privacy compliance.
Adeline Kim, Visa's country manager for Singapore and Brunei, emphasized Visa's commitment to simplifying the payment process for customers.
“Our goal is to improve the payment experience and ensure seamless transactions for our customers with the highest level of security,” continued Kim. “Together with Tencent, we are excited to be at the forefront of transforming the future of payments.”
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Increasingly you can pay with anything - your face, your palm, your favourite log in time ...
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 24 November 2024. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2024). Visa launches a new Pay with Palm feature with Tencent. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/visa-launches-a-new-pay-with-palm-feature-with-tencent/
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