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Archive for September 25 2007

Canara Bank Launches Mobile Biometric ATM

The Business Standard has reported that:

“Canara Bank has launched its first mobile biometric ATM to enable people in rural areas have access to banking facilities. RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat inaugurated the unit in Devanahalli, on the outskirts of Bangalore, on Thursday. The bank plans to launch nine more mobile ATMs in the next few months.

Each mobile ATM is powered by a hand-held device to capture finger impressions, RFID-enabled smart cards and also has a customer lobby with information on the bank’s various products.” Click here for more.

The deployment of such emerging technology is exciting, however, questions remain around how such sensitive data will be protected. Although the authentication process is being enhanced through the use of biometrics, one has to wonder what improvements have been done to protect user information, which would undoubtedly be stored in some form of computer database.

It isn’t enough to just enhance authentication, improvements must be made to the way we protect the data used for this process too.

Fallout From Global Financial Crisis Will Be Long Lasting, Warns IMF

The IMF has warned that “the global credit crisis is not over, and its effects will be long lasting.”

Several central banks have opted to lower interest rates as a result of this global credit crunch, allowing for strained borrowers and lenders to refinance loans with new rates. Although, this could help keep economies afloat in the interim, refinancing undesirable loans is a band-aid approach only staving off the inevitable economic fallout of such poor lending practices.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to watch what unfolds in the coming months. It is likely that the U.S. will continue moving into a deep recession, from which it will be hard pressed to emerge. The situation is far more serious than the usual interest shuffle game can solve. Unfortunately, the impact will be immense and, as usual, affect the average person more than anyone else.

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