Tencent File photo: Xinhua

Chinese technology giant Tencent announced a palm print recognition patent on Tuesday, after it was reported that the firm has  been running internal tests on a new type of touchless palm payment function in August.

The patent is designed to improve the accuracy of verifying unique features in palm print in the process of identity authentication, according to an abstract of the patent shown on Chinese corporate database Tianyancha.

In August, Tencent dismissed reports saying it has been running internal tests on the palm-scanning payment.

"The palm-scanning payment is in the stage of an internal technical research by WeChat. There is no testing or application plan at the moment," Tencent told the Global Times in August.

Amazon has been testing the palm-scanning payment from as early as 2019, the New York Post reported. The system can scan user's hands at the store, link them to their credit or debit card and process the charge in less than 300 milliseconds, compared with a regular card transaction typically takes between three and four seconds, the report said.