- South African banks will soon have access to finger-print data through the Home Affairs department to verify clients.
This follows a landmark agreement signed between the banking sector and the department yesterday.
The SA Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) has said the new agreement will allow banks to conduct online fingerprint verification of clients, in a move that will also help curb fraud and identity theft in the country.
The head of SABRIC, Kalyani Pillay was reported in local media saying the banks had been battling to verify the identity of clients because there were so many fraudulent documents in the country.
On the other hand, the Home Affairs spokesperson Siobhan McCarthy was also reported by the Cape Times saying that citizens need not fear that all their personal details would be divulged to banks. "How it will work is, banks will have to take fingerprints with an electronic machine, the kind where you put your thumb on it and the print is read electronically. This information will be transmitted to Home Affairs and the banks will say: 'Do these fingerprints belong to this person?' and we will check and say 'yes' or 'no'. We don't give them any further information," McCarthy said.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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