Swedish commuters are using hand implants to pay for train tickets

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — Around 3,000 Swedish commuters have had biometric microchips implanted in their hands in order to pay for train tickets.

Swedish rail company SJ first introduced the alternative pay option in June, according to BBC.

Commuters who elect to have the RFID chip implanted under their skin are able to have their ticket loaded onto the device.

The implants use Near Field Communication technology similar to contactless credit cards or mobile payments.

When activated by a reader device a few centimeters away information can be transferred between the them using magnetic field induction.

The train conductor then scans the microchip with a smartphone to complete the ticket transaction.

The rail company does not implant the chip for customers. People need to have the procedure done own their own.