The concept of paying with a simple wave of the hand, once confined to the realm of science fiction, has become a reality with the advent of contactless palm recognition systems. Amazon’s introduction of Amazon One has led this innovation, recording over 8 million uses to date. This technology has been implemented in Amazon’s own stores and more than 500 Whole Foods Market locations across the United States, with limited expansion into third-party venues.
In response to this trend, fintech startups are emerging to offer independent solutions for retailers seeking to adopt similar technologies. One such company is Latvia-based Handwave, which aims to provide a European alternative to Amazon’s palm payment system. By focusing on third-party retailers, Handwave seeks to capitalize on the growing acceptance of biometric payments in Western markets. Notably, China has already embraced biometric palm payments, with Tencent’s Weixin Palm Pay service gaining mainstream traction.
Palm scanning technology operates by analyzing the unique vein patterns within an individual’s palm, ensuring secure and contactless transactions. This method not only facilitates payments but also extends to broader identity verification applications. Companies like Keyo have utilized similar technology for secure building access and other purposes.
Handwave distinguishes itself by concentrating exclusively on the retail sector. Unlike Amazon, which integrates its technology within its own stores, Handwave collaborates with external partners to deploy its palm scanning devices. After three years of development, the Latvian startup has created both hardware and software solutions and is preparing to launch market pilots in retail environments.
Retailers adopting Handwave’s technology would incur transaction fees comparable to or lower than standard payment methods. The company asserts that faster and more cost-effective checkouts can lead to reduced operational expenses. This approach aims to enhance customer convenience by eliminating the need for physical cards, mobile applications, fingerprint scanners, or facial recognition systems, even for age verification and loyalty programs.
Handwave’s co-founders, CEO Janis Stirna and Sandis Osmanis-Usmanis, bring experience from their previous roles at Worldline, a leading global payment provider. Despite this background, the team is committed to building a broad ecosystem. Our plan is to collaborate with any financial institution or acquiring bank, Stirna stated.
To date, Handwave has partnered with a select number of financial institutions, primarily in Europe. This summer, the startup secured an agreement with Visa, which could expedite the deployment of Handwave’s solution across various countries, according to Chief Revenue Officer Oskars Laksevics.
While Handwave has aspirations to enter the U.S. market, Laksevics believes that establishing a presence in the European Union—a region known for its stringent regulations—can serve as a strong foundation for demonstrating compliance before expanding further.
Being an independent European entity may provide Handwave with a competitive edge, especially if Amazon decides to aggressively promote Amazon One to third-party retailers or if other financial institutions, such as JP Morgan, expand their own palm payment initiatives.
Handwave also emphasizes affordability. After receiving feedback from financial partners about the need for cost-competitive devices, the startup developed its own hardware and algorithms, resulting in more economical solutions.
Operating out of Riga has allowed Handwave to function with limited capital. The company’s research and development efforts have been funded through bootstrapping, a $780,000 angel investment round, and $267,000 in non-equity funding. This funding includes an EU-backed cybersecurity grant and support from Latvia’s LIAA Business Incubator and the Ready2Scale accelerator.
As Handwave prepares for its initial pilots and seeks regulatory certifications, it has secured a $4.2 million seed funding round led by Vilnius-based venture capital firm Practica Capital. Additional participants include FirstPick and Outlast Fund from Lithuania, as well as Inovo.vc, a Polish venture capital firm active in the Baltic region.
The Baltic states have become a hub for fintech innovation, offering a pool of scientific talent that is more accessible and affordable for startups like Handwave compared to Silicon Valley. This includes expertise in artificial intelligence engineering. In the Baltics, there are not a lot of companies where you can get that extreme level of technical challenge to resolve, Stirna noted.
Laksevics, who previously held a senior marketing position at Luminor Bank—a Baltic financial institution where Stirna also worked—expressed his enthusiasm for Handwave’s mission. I left a very well-paid corporate job to join this one, and I truly believe that we are building the next big global payment platform, he said.
Handwave is poised to make a significant impact in the biometric payment landscape. Time will determine whether the market embraces this technology and if palm-based payments become a standard in retail transactions.
