Consumers all over the world have, almost overnight, become universal bearers of the debit card. A plastic card, usually with a magnetic stripe (and a smart chip in many parts of the world) is used like a credit card; but instead of paying the bill off at the end of every month, the money is drawn straight from the cardholder’s bank account. This secure, easy way to pay for almost everything has made the debit payment card system wildly popular.

One place where debit cards haven’t taken off, however, is Ghana. Like many other remote and underdeveloped areas of the world, Ghana’s infrastructure only supports debit card functions in large cities like Accra. Residents in rural areas, where telecommunications and electronic services may be unreliable at best, have to rely on cash only, without the protection a bank account offers. However, a biometrics card called E-Zwich is hoped to help expand the use of debit cards to more remote areas.
The E-Zwich cards features many of the same features as normal debit cards, but it also features a fingerprint for verification. This way, even if lack of telecommunications or electricity makes it difficult to completely verify the transaction, store owners and the card holder can still verify the transaction is legitimate by examining the fingerprint on the card. Simultaneously analog and digital, the E-Zwich card brings the promise of debit transactions and the security of bank accounts to areas where yesterday’s technology cannot reach.