Spain's Banco Sabadell has been demonstrating the use of implanted NFC chips to authorise payments with a wave of the hand.
The prototype, formed of an NFC chip which is injected under the skin between the tip of the thumb and index finger, was revealed to the public at the Mobile World Congress in Spain
Two volunteers agreed to undergo the trial to make a payment using the Banco Sabadell mobile application.
Anna Puigoriol, service solutions director at Banco Sabadell, says: “We work to satisfy our customer’s needs, and at this particular time we are carrying out several pilot tests and payment experience demos. Some of them will make the cut, and others won’t, depending on how customers react to them”.
The chips used in the demo have the same thickness as a grain of sand and are most commonly put to work for certain types of medical treatment. Puigoriol believes their potential for use goes far beyond the medical sphere, citing examples such as access control and in virtual reality applications as well as payments.