Cash and carto, goodbye. I pay with my body

I go to the premises, order and eat. Then the routine waitress question: "cash or card?". Oh no, my dear, I pay with my hand.

There is an implant in my body. One hand movement and payment is complete. And I feel almost like a character from the futuristic worlds of Blade Runner 2049, Alita or Cyberpunk 2077.

The implant is 28 mm long, 7 mm wide and 0.4 mm thick. Its operation is based on the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, commonly used in payment cards or smartphones. It is a passive device and does not require its own power source. It costs 200 euros (about 920 zlotys), and you have to add another 300 zlotys for the implantation. It was developed by the Polish-British company Walletmor.

Theoretically, the implant can be placed anywhere, but the hand seems to be the most practical.

The WP journalist turned into a payment card

In science fiction, technological modification of the human body is the norm. Of course, implanting a robotic eye or a bionic arm is not the daily life of 2021, but who would have thought 40 years ago (this is how much the first Blade Runner movie will end next year) that we will be able to pay with an implant in our hand?

And this is the first step towards the spread of cyborgization.

Poles love technological innovations

Granted, many people still pay their bills at the post office, but millions are already doing it online. And once we switch to online payments, it is only a matter of our preferences whether we use a computer, tablet, smartphone or smartwatch for it.

The last two methods compete with payment cards, which have become popular in many countries in the world over the past decades at the expense of cash.

Poland is at the fore here - according to the Global Web Index research, our country ranks second in non-cash payments (75%), right behind South Korea (77%). The podium is closed by the Swedes (74%).

- We are a very interesting example, because with us card or Blik payments have conquered the market. Even in the smallest points there are terminals for non-cash payments - says Jacek Błoniarz-Łuczak, Head of the Physical Laboratory at the Copernicus Science Center.

- Let's compare it to the USA, which is an economy considered to be ultra-modern. There is Apple, there is Tesla - just rocket science. And it turns out that it is enough to go to the States to find out that such solutions are not so popular there. Not only that, their checks are still operational - indicates Błoniarz-Łuczak.

Interestingly, also our neighbors from across the western border still prefer to use cash. Only 49 percent. Germans admit that he pays by card or by phone. It is similar in Austria. There, too, only 49 percent. citizens prefer non-cash payments. In the United States mentioned by the expert, "plastic" is chosen by 58 percent. Americans, while the world average is 60 percent.

The founder of Walletmor is Wojciech Paprota, a businessman from Lublin, educated in Singapore, London and Hong Kong.

His company already has over a hundred partners in the USA and in such European countries as: Poland, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Belgium and Denmark .

It is worth mentioning that a similar solution was previously developed by e.g. the American company VivoKey. Its implants allow you to open the door, unlock the computer or gain access to other electronic devices adapted to work with the implant by bringing your hand closer to the reader.

VivoKey is currently cooperating with Walletmor in the production of payment implants, providing, inter alia, a health-safe biopolymer in which an integrated circuit is enclosed. This one consists of an antenna and a silicon chip on which the information necessary for making payments is stored.

- I do not think that implants will be as common as paying with a card, but there will certainly be a large group of people who are willing to install such an implant. Startups that will propose such solutions as services will develop as much as possible and will have a queue of applicants, but it will take years, believes the Head of the Physical Laboratory at the Copernicus Science Center.

In his opinion, the basic barrier may be human reluctance to interfere with one's own body. However, he adds that this situation may change, because Poland is at the forefront when it comes to modern digital payment solutions, and Poles like technological innovations.

Citizen, do it yourself. I thanked you

The Walletmor implant landed in my hands, but I had to wait a bit for it to turn into a walking payment card.

After all, before deciding to implant, make sure that the device is working. If you do this in a different order than suggested, you might end up cutting your hands open again and replacing the implant.

The set includes, of course, the implant itself, but there is also a needle for self-treatment and a short instruction manual.

I look at the included "skewer". It has an opening so large that you can see the other side through it, and I already know that I would never do the procedure on my own. The company itself also advises against this.

First, I wanted to make an appointment at a surgical clinic. Then it turned out that it is not the doctors who have the greatest experience in the implantation of subcutaneous modifications.

Body modifiers are specialists in this field. One of them is Conor Piotr Adamski - a military paramedic and a man who, in cooperation with the manufacturer, has already implanted the Walletmora gadget to over 30 people from different parts of Europe. Adamski, together with the manufacturer, developed an instruction for other experts. It was in his studio, CrM Bodymodifications, that I used the implantation service.

Before the procedure, I read the instructions and activated the implant. To do this, download the iCard application to your smartphone and set up a free account in it. To activate them, you need to go through a short verification process and confirm that you are from the country you selected during setup.

It takes about 5 minutes, but we have to wait from one to two days for verification confirmation. Then you need to top up your account with the appropriate funds. This can be done by adding a payment card to it or by bank transfer.

It is equally trivial to connect the implant with the app. Just click the plus icon, select "NFC Wearables" and activate the implant by entering the 11-digit code from the package. And it's ready.

Walletmor started working, but before implanting I had to make sure that I would pay for my purchases with it. So I went to the store and successfully made my first payment. By then I was sure that I could turn my body into a walking credit card.

Action "implant placement"

The next day, I called the CrM Bodymodifications studio in Warsaw and made an appointment for the next day. I was lucky because Conor told me that you usually have to wait a month, but he had just one seat left.

The salon has been dealing with piercing and body modifications for years, which in our country can be legally performed by properly trained piercers.

At the beginning, I had to complete a questionnaire concerning, inter alia, health condition, physical activity or medications taken. I also had to read the warning that I am aware of the risks associated with performing such a procedure and agree to it.

My temperature was also taken and a series of questions were asked about my response to surgery. And of course, finally Conor asked if I was definitely determined to become a walking wallet.

I replied shortly: - Yes.

During each procedure, I want to see what they are doing to me. It was similar now, when they connected me to a separator to collect hematopoietic cells from me by apheresis.

It consists in pumping the peripheral blood through a special device that separates the stem cells from it for transplantation. The blood then returns to the body. The needles there were smaller than the one from the Walletmor set, but also much larger than those with which we are vaccinated, e.g. against Covid-19.

The implantation procedure takes about 15 minutes. The body modifier disinfects the place where the implant is placed several times. Later, he slightly stretches the skin to select the most appropriate incision site.

After anesthesia of the selected site, he opens sterile-protected instruments. He cuts the skin with a scalpel. Then, with a special device, he forms a "pocket" under the skin, into which he puts the implant (although the whole thing looked a bit drastic, I couldn't take my eyes off my eyes).

After placing the implant, it sutures the incision, disinfects the wound and protects it. The whole procedure looks exactly like a subdermal piercing, i.e. placing decorative implants under the skin.

According to the creators of the implant, we should not make payments with our hands immediately after the procedure. Even before the implantation, I received instructions on how to proceed so that the wound healed as soon as possible and recommendations not to overload my arm.

And "do not overload" means that even a large cup of coffee can weigh too much. Besides, drinking coffee itself is also not necessary, because for a week after the treatment you should not consume, among others, products with caffeine or alcohol.

In addition, the site of implantation itself should be rinsed with Octenisept 2-3 times a day and 10-minute warm compresses made of oak bark infusion should be used 3 times a day.

They are recommended by piercers to reduce swelling at implants or piercings. The seams can be removed after 12-14 days, but the scar should be protected for a month with a waterproof plaster.

Finally, Conor handed me the appropriate number of dressings and added that I should limit the use of the implant to full healing.

I pay with an implant and I hear: "Are you stoned?"

Warnings are warnings, but my desire to see if everything is working outweighed. Across the street from where they put my implant in, is my favorite ramen place. When I asked for the bill, I heard: "Cash or card payment?". I've waited for it.

- The implant.

I did not want to confuse the restaurant staff by making a payment with my hand without prior notice, because I go there often. But of course the waitress and cooks couldn't believe what actually happened at first.

The client next to me, on the other hand, was more direct. She asked bluntly, "Are you stoned?"

Then everyone flooded me with a wave of questions. The staff added that they would have to save the surveillance footage because their colleagues might not believe the story.

I also checked the implant in a local store. There the saleswoman tried to hide her surprise, but after I left, I saw through the shop window calling her friends to tell them about the guy paying with an empty hand.

- Such a payment by hand, when I do not need a payment card or a telephone, is a very interesting proposition. However, the competition on the market is smartwach. Watch payments are becoming more and more common, so these solutions will compete with each other. People may find that the watch is less invasive and gives the same functionality - says Jacek Błoniarz-Łuczak from the Copernicus Science Center.

- We have to consider how many inconveniences the implant reduces. The price we pay is the financial one and the fact that we interfere with the body. There is, however, an argument that is relevant here. The battery in the watch may run out, in the implant it no longer - he points out.

I am waiting for more features

Two weeks have passed since the surgery. The wound is almost healed, and one of the sutures has already been pushed out by the body by itself. The implant itself works well - the more so if I forget to take my phone or wallet from my car on the way to shopping.

The implant in my hand will last 8 years. After this time, I can report to the surgeon or body modifier to remove it.

There are still many tests ahead of me, because, according to Walletmor, in the coming years they intend to expand the functionality of their implant with additional solutions such as the possibility of opening locks on the door, unlocking the computer or gaining access to other NFC-supporting devices.