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Citigroup Plans Thumbprint ATMs For India's Poor

Posted by kdawson on from the beware-of-gummi-bears dept.

Brad Lucier points out a Financial Times report (carried by MSN Money) that Citigroup is rolling out a network of biometric ATMs aimed at illiterate Indian slum dwellers. From the article: "The machines will recognize account holders' thumbprints, eliminating the need for a personal identification number, and will have color-coded screen instructions and voiceovers to help guide them through transactions... Though India's population exceeds 1 billion, Citigroup estimates that there are only about 300 million bank accounts in the country... 'It's not a philanthropic exercise,' [PS Jayakumar, a Citigroup business manager in India] said. 'For it to be sustainable, we should break even and make a little bit of money.'"

16 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Hm by malkir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So instead of thieves stealing your wallet, they'll just cut off your thumb instead!

    1. Re:Hm by From+A+Far+Away+Land · · Score: 4, Funny

      The illegal thumb trade is about to take off in India, that's for sure.

      Meanwhile, illegal thumb drives are still the domain of the Chinese.

      --
      Oh You POS
    2. Re:Hm by Threni · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's what I was thinking. This is a country where beggars routinely have limbs amputated by their 'pimps' to get more sympathy from tourists.

    3. Re:Hm by DeepZenPill · · Score: 2, Funny

      Gives new meaning to having your account "hacked."

    4. Re:Hm by XchristX · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The characterization is still one-sided, since all Indians don't amputate beggars, only a segment of the population. Your statement was categorical, not qualified, and, I suspect, more motivated by resentment at the success of the Indian American community (highest median personal income and family income, as well as highest percentage of advanced degrees among minorities of Asian extraction: http://www.asian-nation.org/demographics.shtml) than any genuine concern for the plight of the beggars in India. By the way, the situation of poverty, which breeds such things, has been steadily improving in India since the 70s: ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/BPL_ Data_GOI_.png based on http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_cso_rept_pubn.htm), something that you won't see touted by the Times of India op/ed morons, leftist pundits, and bloggers who don't know any better, or lack broad perspective.

      --
      l'Homme n'est Rien l'Oeuvre Tout: Gustave Flaubert to George Sand
  2. Leper colonies... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Funny

    So will this be extended to the poor lepers who need banking services just like anyone else? Or will another big corporation shun this market segment?

  3. Re:this is going to leed to allot of... by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Funny
    leed to allot

    of illiterate Indians?

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  4. Numbers by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Unless these ATMs hand out 10 bucks (or equivalent) per press the user will still have to understand what they are reading on the screen. I accept that many Indians may not be able to write a letter but surely memorising a four digit PIN is not so hard?

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  5. or: "Test on low exposure customers"... by gjuk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Citigroup has a target of 50,000 slum-dwelling customers. That means the total deposits might be $100 * 50,000 = $5million. Assuming Citigroup makes 5% on this, it's $250,000 profit opportunity. This barely justifies 25 ATMs and the effort to get these people banking. The reality is that Citigroup is trialling (a) biometrics and (b) low income banking. They are separate trials.. Slashdot readers all know that fingerprint reading has not yet reached the point we'd trust our own bank accounts to it. Citigroup know this too - they are using people with little to lose to carry out large scale experiments. If someone gets 'hacked'- it'll cost $100 to reimburse them. Tops. Much better there than here... Low income banking; China and India account for 1/4 - 1/3 of the world's population - and they are currently not very wealthy. Still, make a margin and there's a good volume. What's more - over time, they may become wealthy and it'd be nice to 'own' these economies...

    1. Re:or: "Test on low exposure customers"... by baffled · · Score: 2, Interesting

      According to NIST http://www.epic.org/privacy/biometrics 98.6% accuracy can be achieved with one fingerprint, 99.6% with two, and 99.9% with four or more fingers. Wonder how many fingers they're working with.

  6. Mixed feelings by DebateG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We should ignore for a moment the security and technological issues here. Instead focus on the interaction of technology, culture, and society. What Citi is doing is adding a high-tech, complex device in a abysmally poor and illiterate culture. There are a few major issues with this.

    It is very unlikely that illiterate farmers will understand how exactly these ATMs work or for that matter, the banking system itself (which is so complex that most Americans don't understand all the fees and restrictions involved). This can inevitably lead to Citi, knowingly or unknowingly, taking advantage of these people who do not have the education, finances, and political power to protect themselves.

    Although the farmers will hopefully be earning interest on these accounts, that interest really doesn't benefit the community. Think about it this way: you run to your local Citi branch and they lend out your money. The interest earned on those loans pays shareholders, the clerks at the desk, and the loan officers. All of these benefactors are members of your community. Do you really think these poor Indian farmers are going to work at the bank, either being a teller or repairing the ATM's? No, it will benefit the wealthier Indians and the international shareholders.

    While it's great that Citi is trying to tap this market, they could've gone about it much better. They could've set up a physical branch, employed the more ambitious farmers, and helped pull these people out of poverty. Muhammad Yunus showed that simple systems such as micropayments could be profitable and beneficial for the community. I think he also showed that the poor doesn't need to be just another marker share; instead, you can simultaneously invest in people and reap a dual reward.

    1. Re:Mixed feelings by ebers · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > It is very unlikely that illiterate farmers will understand how exactly these ATMs work or for that matter, the banking system itself (which is so complex that most Americans don't understand all the fees and restrictions involved). This can inevitably lead to Citi, knowingly or unknowingly, taking advantage of these people who do not have the education, finances, and political power to protect themselves.

      Illiteracy != stupidity. These farmers aren't from Mars; they can understand the concepts of fees and a balance just as well as the typical American. Will citibank try to exploit their illiteracy by complicating the fee structure to the point where it cannot possibly be remembered? Perhaps, but that isn't really any different than the mountains of legalese they throw at literate people. Besides that, word will spread quickly if people find that the banks are ripping them off, and no one will make deposits anymore, and then Citibank will just be left with an unused banking apparatus and a bad reputation.

      > Although the farmers will hopefully be earning interest on these accounts, that interest really doesn't benefit the community. Think about it this way: you run to your local Citi branch and they lend out your money. The interest earned on those loans pays shareholders, the clerks at the desk, and the loan officers. All of these benefactors are members of your community. Do you really think these poor Indian farmers are going to work at the bank, either being a teller or repairing the ATM's? No, it will benefit the wealthier Indians and the international shareholders.

      Yes, the interest will probably not stay in the community. But there is a considerable benefit in having one's money stored in the bank, rather than as a stack of bills at home, which has to be guarded. Given a choice between stashing your savings in a bank at zero interest or keeping a big wad of cash at home, you'd go with the bank, right?

  7. Kind of Scary... by j_kenpo · · Score: 2, Informative

    Being a former Citi employee, I can say I don't have a whole lot of confidence in this. Citibanks own internal biometric attempts have been disastrous, and this was in a controlled population of 4000 in one off their service centers. Half the time the biometric readers wouldn't acknowledge the thumbprints as being valid, some people were able to use other login ID's with their own thumb prints, and that was if and when the readers themselves were even working. They had limited success, and I believe they even abandoned the project. Considering that fiasco, I am surprised that they would proceed to a much wider audience.

    Considering these results I don't think chopping off thumbs will even be necessary...

  8. Gummy Bear Sales to Skyrocket? by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/16/gummi_bear s_defeat_fingerprint_sensors/

  9. Blood by fyoder · · Score: 2, Funny

    And if their account is empty, a vein seeking needle will creep up the arm and extract a pint of blood for which their account will be credited. They're working on a method for collecting sperm which doesn't violate public modesty, but have yet to come up with anything that can be field tested. The extraction of organs will likely not appear for some time, as preliminary experiments on monkies have been... messy.

    --
    Loose lips lose spit.
  10. This might be an insensitive question but... by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    why is the bank assuming (or even finding) that poor people can't remember pin numbers?