I'm about 60% certain this is some kind of social commentary satire art project, and 40% certain this is actually a real company. Something designed to troll the credulous, sort of like bonsai kitten.

If it's a real thing: This appears to be linked to the Polish domestic banking sector? So primarily of use there. What's stopping you from just getting the implant, loading up some money/payment method on it, and two-part epoxying it into a 3D printed TPU plastic bracelet. Something fitbit sized. Its functionality as a payment method does not appear to require it to be implanted. You could even glue it into a hard shell of a plastic fob and keep it on your keychain.

Funny, that’s the same arm position I use to pay with my Apple/Garmin/Google watch, and I didn’t have to consult a medical professional to do it.

I don’t mean to be dismissive. But such an objection isn’t even mentioned on the web page. Just “forget about ...Smartpay” (I assume that means NFC of some sort). Hey, whoa, back up; how about we not forget about it and you folks tell me how this is better than a watch.

For some reason the 'How It Works' section of this website cracks me up. Specifically 'Arrange the installation with a specialist' bit. The wording just feels so weird.

For €199 ($237) why not just get an Apple Watch Series 3 ($199/$229)?

It also supports payments, can help you improve your health, show you the weather, and can even tell you the time ;)

If it were open source and externally programmable by me alone via some private/public key cryptography - I would be ok with this.

So if I get this, I will have to worry about potentially paying anyone that approaches my wrist with something that could contain a radio? Someone should create another startup that embeds tiny contactless credit card machines on wrists lol.

For payment, absolutely not!

For unlocking a car, a motorcycle, a door, etc.. Could be a cool idea.

“the implant does not violate the basic privacy principles and does not track your location because it does not have GPS and no systems that allow you to spy on or track your location.”

I get that this is NFC but how is privacy in all other areas handled? What are these privacy principles? Can the data be updated without removal?

From the Wikipedia page on the NFC standard mentioned it states “In "card emulation mode" an NFC device should transmit, at a minimum, a unique ID number to a reader.” Is this ID stable? What protocol are you using on top of the NFC frame data for payment?

There are a few companies collaborating in this space. More: https://www.vivokey.com/distributors

The fine print is that they are selling you an implant, but you need to implant it yourself, and then aren't promising that it works for anything.

FWIW, we microchip pets with a quick injection, so this idea is totally plausible technically.

What could go wrong?

Might I suggest implanting in your non dominant limb?

You still have to use chip and pin every 5 transactions or if you go over £130 whichever comes first? Most terminals in the UK require to insert card. Oh.

Imagine your first credit card. Now imagine you're still stuck using it because it's physically embedded in you.

With the rapidly increasing problem of resistance to known antibiotics the idea of voluntarily implanting a foreign body in yourself seems crazy to me.

WHO says "Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today". But, hey if it helps if you forget your phone or watch...

Haven't bio-hackers been shoving NFC chips into themselves for quite a while already? It's interesting that it is getting commercialized, but it still feels very much like a novelty thing for cyberpunk fans.

I am just imagining what happens when your implant details are stolen and used for fraud... Will you have to remove it and get a new implant?

Seriously though, I am going to assume(hope) this is not real...

I can't see myself using such product in any foreseeable future but I'm interested if there's any demand for this. I can see a virality potential.

They've got a video: https://youtu.be/H6oa3wy-CA4

Good material for the next Black Mirror season.

I think the TSA will not be amused the first time someone takes one of these through a security checkpoint.

This will bring a whole new level of pain to hardware upgrades.

I’d much rather have someone steal my watch than my arm.

So now a handshake becomes an attack vector..?

This can't be the future we want.

Finally a way to charge per orifice!

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