What if seniors don't know how to use smartphones or mobile payments? At a senior canteen in Shiming Village, Conghua District in Guangzhou, more than 40 elderly people dine each day simply by scanning their palms.

To address common challenges faced by elderly beneficiaries—such as unfamiliarity with smartphones, forgetting IDs, and difficulty with written communication—WeChat Pay and the Tencent Charity Foundation have upgraded the system with palm print recognition technology tailored to seniors. With a simple palm scan, seniors can verify their identity to access meals. Each scan automatically generates a record, based on which the foundation provides a meal subsidy to the canteen for every senior diner.

As of May 2025, the palmscan dining service has been implemented in nearly 100 "smart senior canteens" across 21 cities in six provinces and municipalities, including Guangdong, Yunnan, Xizang, and Beijing.

Source:Lingnan on the Cloud

视频｜中国老年人开启“刷掌”吃饭

老年人不会用智能手机、电子支付怎么办？在广州从化石明村的一个长者食堂，每天有超40位老人通过刷掌就餐。

目前，微信支付联合腾讯公益基金会针对受助老人不熟悉智能手机、时常忘带证件、文字书写困难等难题，以微信刷掌验证技术进行适老化改造，老人们刷掌验证身份进场用餐，老人每次刷掌就餐将自动生成记录，腾讯基金会据此向食堂按每人每餐发放补贴。

截至2025年5月，微信刷掌就餐服务已落地近一百家“老年智慧餐厅”，遍布广东、云南、西藏、北京等6个省市、21个城市。

文｜记者 王丹阳
视频剪辑｜曾育文 黎杰文
翻译｜曾敏
审校｜赵凡