Taking it to the bank

In India the poor and illiterate get a little help from technology:

These days Mahendra Sahni, a daily wage worker in India's most backward state of Bihar, struts up to a gleaming new cash machine in his village to withdraw his hard earned money.

....For years he used to waste nearly a day getting to the bank and queuing up to get his wages.

Now, when he inserts a cash card into the machine, he is greeted with an voice instruction in Hindi: "Please put your thumb on the specified space."

When he does that, crisp currency notes roll out of the machine with the voice saying, "Your cash is ready. Please accept it."

....The biometric cash machines are custom-made for people who cannot read or write and use features like fingerprint verification and voice guided animated screens and easy navigation.

...."It is basically for poor workers like Sahni who cannot read or write their names. Banking for them will become easy with these cash machines," says the bank's local manager Pranay Kumar.