Palmprint and Palm Vein Recognition Technology Bring a More Secure and Convenient Payment Experience

Weixin Pay today launched its palm scan payment service at Galaxy Macau™, in collaboration with ICBC (Macau) and the luxury integrated resort destination, marking the first-ever application of Weixin’s palm payment services outside of the Chinese mainland.

Participants in the event included Tai Kin Ip, Director of Economic and Technological Development Bureau, Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macao Government Tourism Office. The launch not only represents a milestone for technological innovation in Macao but also promotes the digital transformation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It offers more payment options to Chinese mainland tourists and creates more business opportunities for local merchants, driving high-quality development in Macao’s tourism industry.

Kai Xia, Head of Weixin Pay Hardware Innovation, said the underlying technology relies on the recognition of both palmprint and palm vein to create a touchless and high-accuracy user experience. Weixin Palm Pay also incorporates Tencent’s advanced security technologies and financial risk control measures to ensure a safe transaction experience. Weixin’s pioneering payment solution has passed the tests of China’s National FinTech Evaluation Center. Weixin Pay has jointly developed and issued China’s first palm payment standard at the industry level, leading the industrial application of the technology, as well as exploring overseas adoption.

“Weixin Palm Pay is already widely used in retail, dining, transportation, power banks rentals, and other scenarios in the Chinese mainland,” said Xia. “Now, with its launch in Macao, we hope to use technology to bring more convenience to users at Galaxy Macau and enhance their shopping and payment experiences.”

Wayne Chen, General Manager of Weixin Pay Cross-Border Business HK, Macao & Taiwan, said that Weixin Palm Pay has now been implemented across various industries in the Chinese mainland, significantly improving user experience in payment and other scenarios such as security access. In other use cases such as power bank rentals, the lending process for users has been streamlined from four steps to two; in campus cafeterias, serving efficiency has increased by over 60 percent; and the repeat usage rate surpasses 70 percent in multiple scenarios. “Therefore, we hope to help overseas merchants improve their operational efficiency through the implementation of Weixin Palm Pay," Chen said.

In the first phase of this collaborative initiative, more than 60 shops and retail locations at StarWorld Hotel, Galaxy Macau, Broadway Macau, and Galaxy Arena have taken the lead in integrating the payment solution. This allows users who have already activated their Weixin Pay RMB e-wallet and Weixin Palm Pay features to make convenient purchases. In addition, the initiative has launched promotional activities to encourage Chinese mainland tourists to complete payments effortlessly with a wave of their palms. Weixin Pay will continue working closely with partners to expand more payment scenarios in the city.

First introduced in China in May 2023, the Weixin Palm Pay service has gradually been applied to many scenarios such as office, campus, fitness, retail, catering, and transportation, and has been implemented at sites including the Yingdong Swimming Pool of the National Olympic Sports Center, Beijing Metro Daxing Airport Line, Shenzhen University, Super Monkey, and 7-Eleven.