If you thought India’s decision to ban 86 percent of its cash was ambitious, wait until you hear what it may do next.

The head of a government-run policy institute said last week that the country could completely eliminate the need for credit cards, debit cards and ATMs in the next three years by switching to biometric payments.

Amitabh Kant said that even electronic payment methods may be “totally redundant” by 2020. Instead, all Indians will need for transactions is their thumb or eye.

“Each one of us in India will be a walking ATM,” Kant said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. That would represent “the biggest technological leapfrogging ever in the history of mankind,” he added.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, head of the State Bank of India, agreed that such a dramatic shift was possible.

“This is something that’s eminently doable,” she said, pointing out that nearly 1.1 billion of India’s 1.3 billion people have already registered their biometric data under the government’s unique identification program.

The Indian Government is testing a payments app that makes use of that biometric data, coupled with portable fingerprint scanners that cost about 2,000 rupees (US$30) each.

India is already reeling from a ban on all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes announced Nov. 8 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two notes accounted for almost all of India’s currency, and the move hit hard in a country where over 90 percent of transactions are in cash.

Modi has said the note ban, aside from reducing tax evasion and money laundering, will help India move towards a cashless society. Moving to biometrics could also help crack down on corruption.

Digital payment methods have enjoyed a massive boost since the cash ban, but extending them to the entire country is a big ask since more than 70 percent of Indians don’t have smartphones.

Eliminating credit cards will likely be even tougher, but India appears determined to try.

如果你认为印度禁止全国86%现金流通的决定是野心勃勃的，请听完他们下一步的计划再做评价。

上周，一家政府运营的政策研究所负责人说，未来三年内，印度可能完全取消信用卡、借记卡和ATM自动柜员机，转而采用生物识别付款技术。

印度产业政策及促进部秘书长阿米塔布•坎特称，到2020年为止，即便是电子付款方式也可能“完全多余”。取而代之的是，印度人仅需指纹或瞳孔即可完成交易。坎特在达沃斯全球经济论坛上发言：“未来在印度，每个人都是行走的自动取款机。”他补充说，这代表“人类史上最大的技术进步”。

印度国家银行行长阿兰达蒂•巴塔查里亚同意坎特的说法，她认为这种巨大的变革可能会实现。

“这项技术可行性很大，”她说，政府特别鉴定项目组已采集了印度十三亿人口中近十一亿人的生物数据。

印度政府正在测试一个运用生物识别数据的付款应用程序和一个售价约为2000卢比（约30美元）的便携式指纹扫描仪。

11月8日，印度总理纳伦德拉•莫迪宣布禁止流通500卢比和1000卢比钞票，这已经让印度人陷入麻烦。这两种面额的钞票在印度使用最广泛，取缔它们对一个九成交易都以现金支付的国家来说影响巨大。莫迪说，禁令能减少逃税和洗钱，还将让印度走向零现金社会。生物识别技术还有利于打击腐败。

自现金禁令发布以来，数字支付方式使用人数大幅增加。不过，由于超过七成印度人没有智能手机，推广到印度全国难度极大。取缔信用卡的任务可能会更加艰巨，可印度似乎势在必行。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【跨越】kuàyuè leapfrog move or advance in or as if in leapfrog

    【遭受打击】zāoshòu dǎjī reel from stagger after suffering a blow from