The loyalty blackout: 57% of US shoppers say no when asked for their email at checkout

• 57% of US shoppers instinctively refuse to share their email at the till - rising to nearly 70% for the "high-value" 16-34 demographic

• 1 in 4 Americans now refuse loyalty onboarding every single time - but consumers say they would opt in to biometric checkout if rewards were attached.

• 48% of consumers would use palm payments regularly if security and privacy were guaranteed, rising to 56% of 25-34 year-olds.

London, UK - 19 August 2026 - More than half of American consumers (57%) instinctively refuse when a checkout teller asks for their email address to sign up for the loyalty programme, according to new research from Latvian fintech startup Handwave.

The Censuswide survey of 2,001 US consumers points to a quiet breakdown in retailers' most common method of capturing first-party data - and a clear opening for biometric checkout, with 48% of Americans saying they would use palm-based payments regularly if data handling was secure.

The pattern is stark. Only 14% of consumers say they always share their email when asked, and 24% refuse every single time. A further 33% sit in a conditional middle - willing to give their details, but only to retailers they already shop at. The implication for new entrants and challenger brands is that the most-used onboarding tool in physical retail no longer works for the customers they need most.

The loyalty programme has a consent problem

Loyalty has been retail's default identity layer for two decades. But the data suggests consumer tolerance for the till-side pitch is wearing thin - and it is the youngest consumers, those with the longest lifetime value ahead of them, who are most resistant. 68% of 16-24 year-olds and 65% of 25-34 year-olds say they instinctively refuse the email request, compared with 52% of the over-55s.

Frustration with existing payment methods is creating ground for biometric alternatives. While chip-and-PIN (63%) and cash (57%) remain the most-used payment methods, satisfaction is uneven: a third of Americans say they are put off by 'card-only' stores, rising to 42% of 16-24 year-olds and 41% of 25-34 year-olds.

Asked what would encourage them to try paying with their palm instead of a card or phone, consumers point to a clear hierarchy. Improved security tops the list at 36%, followed by faster checkout (34%) - and then a near-tie between loyalty discounts or rewards (25%) and the convenience of not carrying a wallet or phone (25%).

The picture that emerges is of consumers who are not refusing identification on principle - they are refusing a clunky, low-value exchange. When the offer changes from "give us your email" to "use a single gesture to pay, prove your age and collect rewards," a quarter of consumers say that is enough to make them try.

Trust remains the barrier to a biometric pivot

Adoption hinges on transparency. 56% of Americans cite concerns over how mobile-based facial recognition data is used as the primary reason they haven’t switched. General trust remains low, with only 38% of consumers confident in how large-scale technology firms handle biometric imagery.

The shift is from fearing breaches to fearing "function creep." 43% of respondents worry about "surveillance or tracking beyond payments," while another 43% flag a lack of transparency in storage. The data suggests a critical distinction: while shoppers are wary of passive camera surveillance, they are significantly more open to intentional, gesture-based biometrics. Moving toward user-initiated recognition offers a path to closing the trust gap that currently hampers mobile-first alternatives.

“Retailers have spent twenty years asking for an email at the till and getting a refusal - and the data now shows just how widespread that refusal is,” says Oskars Laksevics, Chief Commercial Officer of Handwave. “The loyalty programme isn't broken because customers don't want to be recognised. It's broken because the exchange is friction-heavy and low-value. When recognition, payment and reward collapse into a single gesture - and consumers can see exactly how their data is handled - a quarter of shoppers say they would opt in. That is the commercial gap biometric checkout is built to close.”

The survey points to an emerging payment culture in which identity, payment and loyalty are no longer separate moments at checkout. With nearly half of US shoppers ready to embrace palm payments once security is assured - and a meaningful share willing to opt in for rewards - biometric checkout is positioned to deliver the first-party data unlock that retailers have been trying, and failing, to win at the till.

About Handwave

Handwave is a Latvian deeptech company that provides innovative palm-based payment and authentication solutions. Our unique Biometrics-As-A-Service platform offers a seamless connection between service providers and customers, making daily services more convenient, secure, and accessible. Our mission is to revolutionize the way people pay and authenticate, replacing traditional cards, devices, and tickets with our cutting-edge technology.

Visit us at https://www.handwave.com/.