Pay By Palm Coming To Panera Bread - Another Step To Cashless Society

Amazon's palm-reading payment technology was first introduced at numerous Whole Foods locations in California, enabling customers to pay for their groceries by scanning their palms at checkout terminals rather than using cash or a card. Now Panera Bread is experimenting with Amazon's cashless payment system as the war on cash marches on.

On Wednesday, Panera Bread announced plans to roll out a "contactless payment method" to several stores with additional locations in the coming months. The bakery-cafe chain has over 2,000 locations, and its loyalty program has 52 million members.

"Panera is the first national restaurant company to use Amazon One as both a way for guests to pay and access their loyalty account with their palm," the company said.

"Our philosophy has been centered around leveraging best-in-class technology to create a better Panera experience and using that to deepen our relationship with our loyal guests. Introducing Amazon One, as a frictionless, personalized, and convenient service, is another way we're redefining the loyalty experience," Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera Bread and Panera Brands, stated.

At the moment, dozens of Whole Foods locations and Amazon Go stores have integrated Amazon One contactless payment.

Customers can set up Amazon One by registering their palm print using a kiosk or at a point-of-sale station at participating stores. To register, you need to provide a payment card and phone number, agree to Amazon's terms of service, and share an image of your palms. Once completed, you can take items to checkout and not have to take out your wallet -- or even your phone. A hover of your hand over the device is all that's needed to pay and leave.

Amazon has said it hopes to sell the palm-scanning technology to other companies like retailers, stadiums and office buildings. Amazon says it is in "active discussions with several potential customers."

The company says thousands of people have already signed up to use it at Amazon stores.

By summer, Panera Bread might have at least two dozen stores equipped with Amazon's contactless payment system, as reported by Panera's Chief Digital Officer George Hanson in an interview with CNBC.

"We think the payment plus loyalty identification is the secret sauce that can unlock a really personalized, warm and efficient experience for our guests in our cafes," Hanson said. 

The adoption of contactless payment systems by corporate giants like Amazon and Panera Bread, both known for their massive loyalty programs, seems to signal a shift towards a cashless society where a customer's body is becoming a transactional tool.

If Amazon's use of palm prints for identification and payment systems sounds like something you have read in the Book of Revelation you are correct. 

The Book of Revelation warns that during the Tribulation every person will be required to accept a mark in their right hand or forehead which will be necessary for commerce.

"And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark -- the name of the beast or the number of its name. Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is six hundred sixty-six". Revelation 13:16-18

Many Christians are concerned that acceptance of such technology is conditioning people for when the actual 'mark of the beast" is implemented. 

What often starts off as voluntary can just as easily become mandatory and whereas tech itself may be neutral, in the hands of the wrong person it could be extremely dangerous.  Imagine the technology of today in the hands of Hitler.

There are also growing fears that an economic collapse and "reset" could bring about an era of forced digital cash that would be necessary to conduct commerce.  Combine such new technologies as pay by palm for commerce with biometric ID cards and you have a very coercive system that the government and future Antichrist could use to control the masses.

Christians have long debated the meaning of the "mark of the beast".  It still remains to be seen if the mark will be digital tattoos, microchips under the skin or some other form of biometric payment using the hand such as Amazon Pay, but there is no denying it, our generation appears to be the first in history to have the technology and now cultural conditioning to fulfill this prophecy.

Learn more about "The Mark of The Beast" and The Book of Revelation with our 7 DVD set - Decoding The Future - Available from PNW here.