Near field communications, high tech and village banking in India
Read an interesting story by EDN executive Ron Wilson about technology fitting serendipitously in developing countries.
NXP’s NFC (Near Field Communications) technology, the underlying technology of its contactless SmartCard MIFARE product was primarily targeted for subway ticketing and the like.
And it has found a market in rural India – in a high tech village banking scheme!
India has several villages which do not have a local bankbranch – the meager cash flow does not provide adequate return on capital to justify establishing a branch. Enter NXP – a trained villager with a cell phone handset with NFC and fingerprint scan capability acts as a lone banker. Authorization and authentication is provided by the swiping the client villager’s smart card and swiping his finger. Transaction takes place by dialing the central bank through the handset and records are updated on the smart card.
Everyone benefits – The village gets banking and NXP gets the market!
Do read the complete article
