Ian Busuttil Naudi doesn't have to worry about forgetting his phone or his bank card when he goes to the shop.

That's because the TV presenter has recently installed a microchip in his hand, which allows him to make financial transactions with his own body. 

The chip uses the same technology that is found in bank cards and smartphones so Busuttil Naudi can simply wave his left hand over a contactless card reader.

”I love technology," said the 44-year-old. "I feel that this is the future, and I want to be part of it as it starts."

Busuttil Naudi, who also hosts technology television programme Gadgets, is among the first people in Malta to implant a credit card chip for purchasing items.

He is getting used to bewildered expressions from cashiers when he swipes his hand over a contactless card reader. 

"People at first look puzzled but then they say, 'I would expect something like this from you'."

Steven Cilia is another Maltese man who has three chips in his body, one of which replaced his car keys, TVM reported in April.

Globally, over 1,000 have had the technology implanted Busutill Naudi said. 

He paid more than €199 for the chip, plus extra to have the procedure to implant the it under local anaesthetic. 

A surgeon made a small incision on his left hand before implanting the chip in the space between the bones connecting his ring and little finger. 

"I didn't feel a thing," Busuttil said, in a video documenting the procedure. 

It has a lifespan of nine years. 

Chip implants have been on the market for over a decade. However, previous technology could not carry contactless pay technology, Busuttil Naudi said.

“I’ve been interested in the technology since 2008, but now it's become useful enough for me to use it,” he said. 

“The chips will become more popular in the medical industry,” Busutill Naudi said.

Records of blood type, next of kin, previous operations and even voice-recorded messages, can all be included in a chip, he said, speculating about the future potential of the technology.