Keyo: The Chicago startup that lets you pay for goods with a wave

As we move closer to a cashless society it appears that startups are coming up with increasingly ingenious ways for us to pay for goods and services. One of these startups happens to be Keyo, which will allow you to buy food, drinks and goods with a simple wave of the hand. This biometrics payment company enables you to pay by just hovering your palm over a scanner at the shop, providing a far easier alternative to cash, cards and phones in transactions. Every user has a Keyo account which is linked to a credit or debit card. The user registers online and finalizes the process by scanning their palm print at a merchant using Keyo. Security is an important factor for this startup as no personal payment information is passed onto the stores and palm scans are removed if the account isn’t used in a year. Jaxon Klein, the CEO of Keyo, said the technology takes the simplicity of mobile payments and digital wallets while eliminating the need to pull out a smartphone. The concept of Keyo was first conceived when Klein and his wife, Cayetana Polanco, went shopping with their 5 day old baby but forgot to bring a wallet. The entrepreneurial pair already ran a technology company at this point and were confident that this was a problem they could solve. They started looking at the possibilities regarding biometric technologies which included facial recognition, fingerprint and iris sensors. “We tested everything we could get our hands on, organized the pros and cons of each one,” Klein said. “We were trying to understand which was more appropriate for use at the point of sale. It had to be a combination of very, very accurate and secure, but also easy to use for customers, very quick and relatively inexpensive.” Until now, leaving the house empty handed to get groceries is almost certainly going to result in a wasted trip. However, thanks to Keyo, an empty hand might be all you need one day when popping to the shop for food.