TimexPay Watchband (Possible implantable flex payment?)

illiteratebeef · June 21, 2022, 10:33pm

I saw a TimexPay watch band that says it can be connected to any Chase Visa credit or debit card for contactless, so I ordered it ($40)

The package contains the watchband, some sort of clip, and a micro USB cable.

I found that the band piece with the buckle contains the active element.

The clippy thing has an FCC IDD.
FCCID lookup: FCC ID 2AVQ70072-UPPU

There is nothing visible inside the clip.

The instruction card says the clip requires power when setting up the RFID, so I’m guessing it programs the chip using a Bluetooth connection to the phone.

I cut the thread and pulled on the thin leather face. The edges of the band appear to be coated in rubber.

The active element inside. Held with a small amount of double sided tape. There’s some reinforcement on this side since all the chip to coil connections are on this spot.

The side with the flip chip.

Size is ~11x26mm.

Scanning it on Android shows an Infineon Unknown IC using ISO/IEC 1443-4 and Gemalto card manager.

That’s all I got. This seems to be as small or smaller than the available contactless options for custom conversion. I don’t have a particular want for conversion, but I thought it’d be fun to tear down and share.

Pilgrimsmaster · June 21, 2022, 10:53pm

Indeed, Thank you very much

StarGazer1258 · June 22, 2022, 12:03am

This is very interesting! If I’m reading this correctly, this is a payment chip that you can change the card on? If this is the case, then this could allow you to change out cards when they expire and greatly increase the lifetime of the implant! I would be very interested in seeing this as a conversion and seeing if the clip could alter the chip through the skin.

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!

StarGazer1258 · June 22, 2022, 12:24am

After a bit more research, it appears this is based on a product called Universal Passive Provisioning Unit (UPPU) by Tappy.

According to this review,

what you’re doing is programming as a tokenized virtual copy of your credit or debit card.

and

Timex Pay is (currently) limited only to cards from Chase.

Which is a bit of bummer, but I’d gladly get a Chase card if it meant having a renewable payment implant.

I might have to get one of these and try it out myself.

illiteratebeef · June 22, 2022, 12:58am

Yes, the app gives you an option to have multiple cards in the app, but only one active on the chip at a time. It appears that you’d have to connect the implant to the Bluetooth reprogrammer to change the active card. It also allows you to disable the card on the chip via the app only, so I imagine it works something like Privacy.com where they’re acting as an intermediary card. I only have one Chase card and it’s failing after adding it to the app, but before accepting the TOS so I don’t think it’s fully active.

illiteratebeef · June 22, 2022, 1:11am

After some careful snipping an prying, I’ve removed the BT transmitter. It’s very thin, about 1mm, and has the flat flex RFID antenna soldered on and a small ceramic SMD antenna for BT, the USB port mid-mounted, and looks to be easily plasti-dipped for better portability and use if the band chip is implanted.

TheOv3rminD · June 22, 2022, 1:41am

Wow, this is really cool. Thanks for all the detail too. My watch already has the ability to pay for things, but it would be awesome to see this as an implant. Great work on the detailed teardown and writeup.