One Rail Company from Sweden that offers its passengers an option of using biometric chip implanted into their hand in place of a paper train ticket is SJ. One of its spokesperson states- gone were the days when e-ticketing was known as the cutting-edge technology now biometric chips are replacing the older technologies.
The first travel company in the world that allowed people to use the innovative idea of Biometric Chips that seems straight out of the sci-fi film. These tiny chips will be using the same technology as that of the contactless bank cards and Oyster Cards that uses Near Field Communications (NFC) that enables conductors to scan passenger’s hands.
After reading this interesting update, before planning to pack up bags for Sweden; the scheme is only applicable to those who already have the biometric implant. Till date, over 2,000 Swedes have implanted the chip and most of them are employed in the tech industry.
The state-owned operator SJ states- 200 as an expected number of people would be taking the microchip method but the users must be signed up as a loyalty program member for accessing the services. Customers can buy tickets in the normal way by just logging onto the website or the app and their membership number is linked to their chip; which is the reference code for their ticket. Moreover, the reaction to the idea is has been to a great extent positive, however, some security arguments have been raised.
It’s an interesting project that lets us improve the digital customer experience. Moreover, SJ is not the only company that is taking advantage of the biometric chip trend. A company named Epicenter has enabled its employees with an option of having a chip in order to access the offices, on the other hand, there are many other Swedish gyms that let clients use their chips as their membership cards.
SJ’s spokesperson states that “there might be the whole set of a new generation of microchips that would be smarter and better. Moreover, Finnair is already using the face recognition technology at check ins and it could be the next big thing that could take place while boarding planes and trains.