Coors Field debuts palm-based age verification from Amazon

The home field of the Colorado Rockies baseball team is the first venue to leverage Amazon One frictionless payment to streamline alcoholic beverage purchases.

Denver-based Coors Field is launching a new capability of Amazon One, called age verification, which will enable adult customers 21 and over to purchase alcoholic beverages by hovering their palm over an Amazon One device, without having to produce a physical government-issued ID.  

Amazon One is a proprietary technology designed to let customers use their unique palm signature to pay or present a loyalty card at a store, as well as perform activities like enter a stadium or badge into work. The solution uses custom-built algorithms and hardware to create a person’s unique palm signature.

To sign up for Amazon One, customers insert their credit card in the device. Next, they hover their palm over the device and follow the prompts to associate that card with the unique palm signature being built by the device’s computer vision technology in real time. Once customers have enrolled, they can enter Amazon One-enabled Amazon Go stores by holding their palm above the Amazon One device at entry for about a second.

Customers already enrolled in Amazon One can take advantage of the age verification feature by visiting the Amazon One section of the Amazon site and uploading a photo of the front and back of their government-issued ID, such as their driver’s license, and a selfie.

When an enrolled customer who is of age hovers their palm over the Amazon One device, the bartender will see a “21+” message along with the customer-uploaded selfie appear on their screen. The bartender can then visually match the photo on their screen with the customer in front of them, and then proceed with the sale. When the customer is ready to pay, they hover their palm over the Amazon One device again, and they will be charged for their purchase.  

Amazon One does not store customers’ government-issued IDs, which are verified by an ISO 27001-certified (international standard for information security) identity verification provider. Once signed up for age verification, customers will no longer need to produce an ID when purchasing alcoholic beverages at participating outlets.

At Coors Field, Amazon One kiosks are available at the SandLot Brewery and the Silver Bullet Bar.

“We are excited to team up with Amazon One to launch their age verification feature at Coors Field,” said Alison Birdwell, president and CEO of Aramark Sports + Entertainment. “Consumer preferences are ever evolving and demand for faster service models continues to grow. Amazon One’s latest capability directly responds to those demands by delivering a new level of convenience to the age verification process, shortening the time it takes to make an alcohol purchase, and improving the overall guest experience at Coors Field.”

“At Coors Field, we have always prided ourselves in putting customer experience first. As the first sports stadium to enable cutting-edge palm recognition technology like Amazon One for age verification, we are enabling a friction-free experience for Colorado Rockies fans so they can grab a drink and get back to the game faster,” said John McKay, senior director of food service operations and development for the Colorado Rockies. “Hearing from Amazon One customers across the country, we understand that they love the convenience it delivers: shorter wait times, quick access to buildings and locations, being able to link their loyalty memberships, and now an easy way to grab their beer.”

Amazon One is currently available at more than 100 Whole Foods Market stores, select Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores, and multiple third-party locations, such as select Panera restaurants.