The global payments landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as biometric authentication moves from the fringes to the forefront of financial technology. In a move that signals both confidence and ambition, a group of former Revolut employees has secured $6 million in seed funding for their new venture, Five, a startup developing palm-scan payment solutions. This funding round is more than a capital injection—it is a strategic bet on a future where identity and payments converge seamlessly, and where the very act of paying becomes invisible, frictionless, and secure.
Who Is Behind Five? The Founders and Their Vision
Five is the brainchild of several Revolut alumni, including CEO Alex Zubkov, who previously served as Revolut’s Head of Product for Cards and Payments. The founding team also includes Yury Sokolov (CTO), Andrey Kolesnikov (COO), and Roman Bugaev (Chief Architect), all of whom bring deep expertise in scaling digital financial services. Their collective experience at one of Europe’s most disruptive neobanks is a key differentiator, positioning Five to navigate both the technical and regulatory complexities of biometric payments.
The Funding Round: Investors and Strategic Backers
The $6 million seed round was led by Entrée Capital, with participation from Speedinvest, RTP Global, and several prominent angel investors from the fintech sector. This diverse investor base signals strong institutional belief in Five’s approach and the broader potential of biometric payments. According to Sifted, the round also included backing from ex-Revolut executives, further cementing the startup’s credibility and network within the European fintech ecosystem.
Five’s funding will be deployed to accelerate product development, expand engineering talent, and pilot its palm-scan payment technology with select retail partners across Europe. The company’s roadmap includes both hardware deployment (biometric scanners for point-of-sale terminals) and the development of a secure, cloud-based identity platform.
How Five’s Palm-Scan Technology Works
At its core, Five’s solution enables customers to pay by simply waving their hand over a biometric scanner at checkout. The technology captures unique patterns in the palm’s veins—an approach that is both highly secure and difficult to spoof. Unlike facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, palm vein authentication is contactless and less susceptible to environmental interference, making it well-suited for high-throughput retail environments.
The company claims that its system can process a transaction in under two seconds, offering a user experience that rivals or exceeds contactless card payments. Importantly, Five’s platform is designed to be device-agnostic, allowing integration with existing POS infrastructure and future-proofing adoption as biometric standards evolve.
Why Biometric Payments Are Gaining Momentum
The surge in biometric payment solutions is driven by a confluence of market forces. First, the explosion of digital transactions has exposed the limitations of passwords and PINs, which remain vulnerable to phishing and social engineering attacks. Biometric authentication—whether via palm, face, or fingerprint—offers a fundamentally stronger security model by tying access to an individual’s unique biological markers.
Second, consumer expectations for convenience have never been higher. As contactless payments become the norm, especially post-pandemic, the next frontier is eliminating even the need for cards or phones. Palm-scan payments promise a truly frictionless experience: no wallet, no device, just you.
Finally, regulatory pressure is mounting for stronger authentication in payments. The EU’s PSD2 directive and similar frameworks globally are pushing banks and fintechs to adopt multi-factor authentication, of which biometrics is a natural fit. Five’s technology is positioned to help merchants and banks meet these evolving compliance requirements while enhancing customer experience.
Market Context: Competitive Landscape and Adoption Barriers
Five enters a competitive but still nascent market. Tech giants like Amazon have piloted palm-scan payments (Amazon One) in select US stores, while Chinese players such as Alipay and WeChat Pay have experimented with facial recognition kiosks. However, widespread adoption remains limited, in part due to privacy concerns and the need for robust infrastructure.
Unlike Amazon, which controls both hardware and retail channels, Five is betting on a platform approach—partnering with multiple merchants and integrating with existing POS systems. This strategy could accelerate adoption in Europe, where regulatory scrutiny and consumer expectations around privacy are higher. Five’s founders argue that their European roots and Revolut pedigree give them a nuanced understanding of both compliance and user trust.
Enterprise Perspective: Implications for Retailers and Banks
For retailers, biometric payments promise faster checkouts, reduced fraud, and new opportunities for personalized loyalty programs. By linking payments to a unique biometric identity, merchants can offer tailored promotions without requiring customers to enroll in separate loyalty schemes. For banks and payment processors, integrating biometric authentication could reduce chargebacks and streamline KYC (Know Your Customer) processes.
However, the path to mainstream adoption is not without hurdles. Retailers must invest in new hardware, and integration with legacy POS systems can be complex. Banks will need to update risk models and ensure that biometric data is handled in compliance with GDPR and other privacy laws.
Risks, Privacy, and Regulatory Headwinds
The collection and storage of biometric data is fraught with risk. Unlike passwords, biometric markers cannot be changed if compromised. Five asserts that all palm data is encrypted and stored securely, with no raw images retained. The company is also working with independent security auditors to validate its protocols and ensure compliance with European data protection standards.
Regulators are watching the space closely. In the EU, the use of biometrics is subject to strict consent and purpose limitation requirements under GDPR. Five’s leadership has indicated that privacy-by-design is a core principle, and that users will have full control over their data, including the ability to revoke consent and delete their biometric profile at any time.
Despite these assurances, public skepticism remains a barrier. High-profile breaches in other sectors have made consumers wary of sharing sensitive data, and any misstep could erode trust not only in Five but in the broader biometric payments category.
Strategic Outlook: What’s Next for Five and Biometric Payments?
Five’s immediate focus is on pilot deployments with major European retailers, aiming to prove both the technical reliability and commercial viability of palm-scan payments. Success in these pilots could unlock rapid scaling, especially if the company can demonstrate tangible benefits for merchants—such as faster throughput, reduced fraud, and increased basket size.
Looking ahead, the broader market for biometric payments is expected to grow significantly. According to industry analysts, global biometric transaction volumes could reach over 18 billion annually by 2025, driven by both consumer demand and regulatory mandates. Five’s challenge will be to navigate a complex ecosystem of hardware vendors, payment processors, and regulators while maintaining user trust and operational resilience.
One non-obvious implication is the potential for biometric payments to become a new layer of digital identity infrastructure. As more services—from healthcare to travel—require secure, seamless authentication, palm-scan and similar technologies could serve as universal identity keys, blurring the lines between payments, access control, and digital onboarding.
Conclusion: A Defining Moment for Biometric Fintech
The $6 million seed round for Five is not just a milestone for a single startup—it is a signal that biometric authentication is moving from pilot to platform. With a founding team steeped in fintech innovation and a product that addresses both security and convenience, Five is well-positioned to shape the next era of payments. Yet, the journey will require more than technical excellence: it will demand trust, regulatory agility, and a relentless focus on user experience.
As biometric payments edge closer to mainstream adoption, the winners will be those who can balance innovation with responsibility. Five’s progress will be closely watched—not just by investors and competitors, but by an industry seeking the next leap in secure, seamless commerce.