My Custom Payment Implant

Payment implant

Everybody wants one, I actually have one , here is my journey

Along with everybody else, I am eagerly and patiently waiting for the Apex Line to be officially launched.

The Apex line will be a powerful device that will be capable of many functions, including payment. However, currently, we don’t know when or where, globally this will be restricted to upon its release; therefore, I have been actively looking for an interim solution for an implanted payment option while I wait for that specific payment function to make its way “Down Under” to little ol’ NZ.

Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the “standard” Micro Bank Card

What I do have, however, is a PayTag ~ 60% the size of a standard credit card. Obviously still too large for an implant.

This card does not have an expiry date, it is “attached” to another card, that I can chop and change between accounts / cards
I wondered if it would be feasible to remove the chip and add it to a Flex style antenna & implant…

“The Layers”

Adversaries: Sticker backing, Adhesive, “Silver paint”

Weapons: Fingers, Cotton Bud, Acetone

Layer 1

Easily defeated

Layer 2 :

Took some rubbing but , finally exposed the wings
.
.
.

OOPS

Oh well, now I know what NOT to do!

TAKE 2

Boom, Soak in Acetone, and peel off layers as they begin to lift, took a couple of hours total, but only 10 mins work. Easily removed

The Viable chip - Sorta…

Im ready to show Amal my handy work

Now, I am Paraphrasing here

Me: Hey Amal, I have a chip here , blah blah blah, details, blah blah blah, can I send it to you for conversion?

Amal: Sure thing, but first, what sort of chip is it?

Me: {using Taginfo} Infineon chip

Amal: Hmmm, I don’t have any data on their chip capacitances, so really the antenna inductance would need to be measured to be sure I had a matching antenna… which is unlikely. I have antennas made for all the common chip capacitances, but Infineon plays by their own rules.

Me: (In my head, “Fuck”, “I guess I am ordering ANOTHER replacement card”, I should have asked Amal first)

Amal: I might be able to hand-wind an antenna though, but it would be a bit circle and definitely not a flex design… big scalpel work to put it in… thoughts?

Me: (in my head…Yeah-Nah )

Me: I would be keen for a flex, not so much the disc. (if disc needed, instead I will wait for Apex payment to Arrive in NZ

About this time COVID 19 Hit

But THEN my replacement card also arrived

When I was finally allowed out of the house

Off to the Post Office I went

In a small envelope. The post office staff member felt the envelope and asked if it was a payment card, I said no It was only an ID card… They saidm either way, it had to be registered mail @ USD$35… or if it is official paper documents, @ USD$12

for a tiny envelope!!! " "

I said “no thank you, BUT on an unrelated matter, could I please have a stamp for USD $2 ?”

Amal: ok… I have some actually amazing news. I had rock bottom expectations here but it turns out this chip is 70pF capacitance which means I can make a flex style small wedge, needle installable implant from this… super easy.

Amal: At the end of the day the performance isn’t great… it’s actually kinda terrible… but it’s as close as I can get to the inductance of the original antenna with the stock antennas I have.

+ + ( x 0.5 )
Thanks NZ Post for delivering to the wrong address ( Well correct address, incorrect suburb )

TESTING TIME

TERMINALS
I believe EFTPOS Terminals are the most common contactless payment terminals in NZ and OZ, The terminals sit idle until the transaction is due, only then the RFID is ON and “looking” for payment to be made.
It would be pointless to show you all a video of the xFD NOT illuminating, but here is a terminal waiting for payment and showing the antenna “sweet spots” on the perimeter the screen, and nothing in the middle; so far this seems to be a common layout, at least on the ones I have tested.

FUNCTION

RANGE

I took about 5 videos, but my videography was pretty crap

trying to get a good angle, this is the best view to show it…about 10-15mm; Not the greatest range, But that is what AMAL expected for this specific Infineon Chip.

@ The Piercing Studio

The first one I approached, she had never done a subdermal implant but “would give it a crack”, unfortunately, they don’t do scalpel work for my FlexMT ( But that will be another story )

Autoclaved Custom FlexNeedle

The Install

I have shifted the host from Dropbox to Google Drive, to unlisted YouTube link. Should be good to go now!

The piercer’s first time doing a subdermal implant, She was a just little nervous before she started professional during and excited afterward.

As you can see in the video, she struggled to get the needle in

, but she got there in the end.

Using the new implant

Worked pretty well, I expect the range to improve slightly when the swelling and fluid dissipates.

STATS

COSTS $USD
CONVERSION COST: $199
INSTALL COSTS: $66

TIME
AUTOCLAVE NEEDLE: 15mins
NEEDLE POCKET: ~3 mins
FLEX INSTALL: ~5 secs

OTHER INFO
ANESTHETIC: Nil
NEEDLE LUBRICANT: Nil
HEALING: 1 Butterfly and a Tegaderm over the top
FIRST PAYMENT AFTER INSTALL: ~10mins @ KFC
RANGE: ~5-10mm

HOW SATISFIED WITH THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE

Update

The ACTUAL very next day after I got the message from Amal that the Flex was ready to ship, My bank contacted me to tell me that the PayTag will no longer be supported in 3 years time, So this is obviously disappointing, but it still buys me 3 years for Apex Payment or the next payment technology option to emerge ( I actually have access to another bank that has similar cards but they have a 5 year validity, Which I initially chose not to use because the no expiry was clearly better than 5 years… clearly not )

REGRETS?

RECOMMENDED

DT’s Conversion service was awesome, super professional and quality work ( No surprises )
@amal and @mdanger THANKS AGAIN

Piercer, great placement, It took about 24 hours to “heal”, looking good and getting better every day

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