Monday, March 24, 2008

The End of Cash in the City of Accra

Sometime ago I saw a freak futuristic flick about a rabid criminal whose evil elasticity stretched beyond psychiatric study. There was an unbreakable security system protecting something I cannot remember. Only one man could go through this system. It took a scan of his eyeball to break the code which, in turn, opened the lock. What did the maniac do? He found this special man, popped out the entry-eyeball with a ball-point pen and gained ingress into the fortress. It was Demolition Man, I think.

I saw a TV commercial over the weekend telling of a coming cashless economy from April. For all payments, the system requires a card, a point-of-sale gizmo and the fingerprint of the card bearer. Demolition Man came to mind, and I was just hoping that Accraians would not start losing their precious thumbs in a new breed of crime. Of course, a sick and weak mind is not enough for a money-making scheme; one would still need to secure an unattended machine at the pay point.

Somebody should spare a thought on coupling the cashless system with a police fingerprint database. You use the system and the police automatically have your fingerprint. Can the end of cash also signal the thinning of crime?

3 comments:

  1. good idea, i wonder if it has crossed any body's mind. problem is i wonder how successful this ezwich thing will be.

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  2. ezwich, what will lepers do.What will be used in the absence of a thumb? How much research and education has gone into this? Lets all wait to see what happens to this system.I will be a latent subscriber when proven effective.

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  3. Not to be pessimistic, but a cashless economy in Accra? Keep me updated on how it works out.

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