Fantastic forum. Have learnt heaps browsing the various topics and answers.
I’m from Australia and for me the biggest drawcard to be implanted would be the ability to pay for goods via, what we call here, ‘tap and pay’ or ‘tap and go’.
If I’m reading correctly it appears this ability is some ways off. Am I mistaken or can it be done?
If it’s off in the future what sort of timeline are we talking? Months, years, decades?
Thanks in advance and I’m really enjoying reading what people are getting up to.
Unfortunately no, we’re kind of stuck waiting for the “big guys” to let us in. It’s 100% technically possible, but because of the bureaucracy involved it’s quite hard to enter into the system. Plus, some people are crazy and think implants are the mark of the beast or whatever and would probably go crazy if payment vendors allowed that in.
Since you live in Australia, you might be able to get a micro-card variant of your bank card, which could be converted into a implant using this service:
The downside is that they function for a maximum of two years because of expiration/deactivation. That may buy you enough time for the VivoKey to support payments.
This is tempting to me ngl but the expiry thing sucks big-time.
Also, don’t we technically have support implant payments with Fidesmo applet ready products from VivoKey? They only work with a few select banks in the Nordics right now though - but surely they’re still considered as supported?
It will take some time in my case.
Also if I had it already at home, I must wait for my holiday - no bodymods on Austria. Also getting a chip via the needle is difficult - we have also very strict piercing rules
The card @JennyMcLane sent is not a microcard, it was a tap card style mini contactless. I was able to remove the chip from it, but I do not have any antenna stock that is tuned for it, so it will be some time before I’m able to complete the conversion.
these are just unofficial terms we’re tossing around here… basically the “micro” card is a SIM shaped card, those larger than a standard SIM cards… and the card @JennyMcLane sent is larger than that and shaped more like a standard credit card… so… i guess… mini card?
I’m watching the Netflix documentary called “Dark Net” S1E2 “Upgrade”, and it sparked my interest in these implants. But currently my only use for one of these implants, would be if I could use it as payment in grocery stores etc. but all of the threads I find, has the same answer: “It’s not possible yet”.
I know the answer comes from qualified sources, but it still makes my head spin trying to work my way around the problem, and maybe come up with some food for thought while reading thru answers to various threads, one question came to my mind. Is it possible to sort of “mirror” your phone into one of these implants? iPhones have the “ApplePay” function, which lets you pay simply by holding your phone against the card reader (FaceID, FingerTouch or password needed ofc). Would it be possible to mirror the function, so that you enable the chip to replicate the action by using your phone as usual, thus unlocking the option by FaceID, FingerTouch etc. I know you still gotta get the phone out of your pocket, but you would then be able to “show off” using your hand as payment
In short, no this is not possible. The payment system is secured with cryptography now, and the only way to participate is to be approved by all the players involved. Being able to hack a solution would also mean I could pay with your account… not ideal.
Nah, that specific area you’re indicating is a contact card. Only contactless cards (hidden inside the plastic casing with an antenna) can be converted into implants, and even then only specific configurations.
So dumb question here but why can’t that bit be encased in something and put into your hand/wrist?
Does it actually have to physically touch the machine.