Photo credit: The Sun
A British man is the first to get microchipped with his bank card.
40-year-old Arnie Szoke paid £350 to get his bank card surgically implanted in his hand by London-based company Walletmor.
In Sweden, more than 4,000 people have their bank cards linked to microchip implants.
Szoke’s microchipped bank card will have to be replaced after it expires.
The Sun reported:
A DAD is the first Brit to get microchipped with a bank card implant — letting him pay with just his hand.
Arnie Szoke, 40, forked out £350 to have the op in Germany.
The NHS healthcare assistant said cashiers and other shoppers have been stunned.
He added: “People ask how I can pay with my hand.
“The implant looks cool, but my wife would never have one.”
The chip uses contactless card technology, with magnetic fields transferring data to readers.
Surgeons open a pocket in the side of the hand for the safety pin-sized chip — just half a millimetre thick — then stitch it up within five minutes.
Father-of-two Arnie said: “Using the chip takes a bit of learning.
“It’s like a normal card but you have to be more precise with where you tap.
“It means I don’t have to keep a wallet with me all the time.
Walletmor is rolling out a microchip that can be implanted in the hand and will work with a digital wallet for contactless payments.
The tech company said the microchip will work with the “Purewrist” app and the implant procedure takes only 4 minutes.
The implant is now available to the public for $299.