You Can Now Swipe Your Palm to Ride the Beijing Subway

Passengers riding the Beijing Subway can now swipe the palm of their hand to enter some stations.

According to Jiemian News, the function has been introduced on the Daxing Airport Line, which runs from Caoqiao Station (interchange with Line 19 & Line 10) to Daxing International Airport. 

Passengers can link the function to WeChat Pay by first going to a smart ticket booth at a Beijing Subway station on the Daxing Line and then using the Beijing Subway ‘palm swipe’ mini-program in WeChat (刷掌乘车). 

Watch the video below to see how it’s done: 

The Beijing Subway ‘palm swipe’ mini-program in WeChat (刷掌乘车). Screengrab via That's/Alistair Baker-Brian

Beijing is not the first city in China to introduce the ‘palm swipe’ function; in early 2022, Line 20 on the Shenzhen Metro network – which connects Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport with the city’s International Convention Center – introduced the FVR (Full-hand Vein Recognition) function. 

As of press time, there is no indication as to when or if the ‘palm swipe’ function will be rolled out to other parts of the Beijing Subway network. 

Do you see yourself palming your way onto the Beijing Subway?  

[Cover image via Pixabay]