Kenya has recently faced serious financial concerns that have been splashed all over the media in varied measures eliciting great attention.
Talk of the shilling's performance against the dollar, and whether is it stable? Weak? Or Strong?
Away from that, do you remember that habit of tossing coins in old, used tins?
Usually it was customised in such a way only a single coin can get through the tiny hole and later emptied upon getting full.
This was the traditional way of saving. If you have been keen, this habit is fast fading away as Kenya grows cashless.
Pundits say we are moving towards a cashless society. If anything is to be blamed for, perhaps is the introduction of smart cards, notably in urban areas.
A close up of Kenyatta Avenue, Nakuru town, will give one an idea that banks and financial institutions were designated in that section.
One can’t help but realise queues forming every moment at ATM outlets. In fact, today one can make payment or purchases without cash to offset medical, electricity, loan, farm products, parking or any utility at any outlet which has a card reader.
According to Discovering computers: Living in a digital world, a smart card which is similar in size to a credit card or ATM card, stores data on a thin microprocessor embedded in the card.
Smart cards contain a processor and have input, process, output, and storage capabilities. When you insert the smart card in a specialized card reader, the information on the smart card is read, and if necessary, updated.
Some credit cards are smart cards, and some store biometric data such as finger print to authenticate a user. In fact, a smart card stores thousands of shillings in a thin microprocessor and update the amount whenever a transaction is made.
Now the game has shifted to education. At St. Paul’s University Nakuru campus and other varsities within, students are issued with smart cards as their IDs, and it was Wednesday that the Higher Education Loans Board announced that it was going to launch a smart card system in an effort to boost efficiency and convenience in its services.
A walk in a mall, and major outlets in Nakuru town will prove to you that cash purchase is anonymous, yet smart cards is taking over as a medium of exchange and is becoming more common in Kenya.