Use a Sonic Screwdriver for Your Purchases Instead of a Boring Card

Many debit cards and credit cards these days feature contactless payments, which allow you to pay for things by just placing your card near the reader. They work with an NFC chip and antenna embedded in the card, and the idea is that it’s more convenient than swiping. But, you still have to carry around the card, and tapping isn’t really that much easier than swiping. If you’re going to carry something around anyway, you might as well make it a sonic screwdriver by following this guide!

The sonic screwdriver obviously has a variety of ill-defined functions, but as far as I know the Doctor never used one to pay for purchases. Maybe that’s because the Doctor doesn’t have a bank account that’s accepted on Earth. Luckily, Lieven Scheire and Maarten Weyn are addressing that oversight, and you can too! To start this build, you’ll need some sort of sonic screwdriver replica, though you could also use a reproduction Harry Potter wand or something. You’ll also need a card issued by your bank that has contactless payment built in.

The first step is to remove the NFC contactless payment chip from the card. All you need to do is leave the card in a bath of acetone for a couple hours and the chip will come off. This step is, of course, irreversible, so don’t do this with your primary card. Then you need to attach the NFC chip to your sonic screwdriver and build your own antenna. NFC only works with an antenna, so pay careful attention to this step. And that’s it! Now you can go to a store and pay for things using your sonic screwdriver!