27 February 2006

BARCELONA — A disco claims to be the first in the world to offer customers the chance to have an ID microchip inserted under their skin.

The Baja Beach Club on the seafront in Barcelona says the chip will give them access to the club without having to show identification cards or passports.

The chip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, will also allow them to pay for their drinks.

It has an identification number that is sent via electronic signal to a scanner which then resends the signal's information to a data base.
 
But the surgery needed to insert the chip under the skin – usually in the hands – does leave a small scar.

Club manager, Conrad Chase, said: "The chip has no side-effects."

It is said to work for up to 15 years and clients who try it only feel a small pinch when it is inserted.

Baja Beach Club is very popular with tourists, particularly in summer time.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news