Russian Lie Detector ATM 95
smitty777 writes "Apparently the Russians are starting to add lie detectors to their ATMs in an attempt to prevent identity theft and bad withdraws. 'Consumers with no previous relationship with the bank could talk to the machine to apply for a credit card, with no human intervention required on the bank’s end. The machine scans a passport, records fingerprints and takes a three-dimensional scan for facial recognition. And it uses voice-analysis software to help assess whether the person is truthfully answering questions that include “Are you employed?” and “At this moment, do you have any other outstanding loans?”'"
I've used the latest Russian ATMs. (Score:5, Interesting)
Sberbank has some of the most advanced ATMs in the world now and it's mostly because of the extremely long ques. They're really advanced now, you can pay all sorts of bills from almost any company at them, gas bills, phone, internet, mobile, water, heating, taxes, etc, if for example you have a gas bill it will scan the barcode and then you just insert the money so it's connected to the billing systems of most major utility/service providers.
The main reason for these new lie detector tests is Russian people predominantly being drunk liars (but not as bad as chechens who will murder you for no reason at all) are more likely to end up dead or to take the money and dissapear off the map and it's hard to track down every worthless moron, especially when doing so may cost more than the loan is worth and it's also very likely that the money is gone and they have no assets to seize.
Re:Shirley, they can't be serious (Score:4, Interesting)
And don't call me Shirley!
(I am nothing like her.)
Re:I've used the latest Russian ATMs. (Score:2, Interesting)
It's mostly a cash-based economy. Only larger companies in Moscow/St Petersburg are giving registered work, most people get paid cash in hand.
Re:vodka (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:vodka (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, no. Voice recognition works fairly OK with Russian language.
For instance, I'm using it on my phone to do voice search. The last search was "The Sword of Damocles" (I wanted to read the legend which gave rise to this expression), it's pronounced "Damoclov mech" in Russian and Google understood it just fine. Try that in English now - it just doesn't work.
I can also use voice recognition to dictate large texts. Good recognition engine produces near perfect output.
That's what you get if you use a language with non-crazy spelling. Additionally, grammar cases in Russian seem to work as error correction codes.
Voice-based lie detection, though, definitely does not work.
Re:I've used the latest Russian ATMs. (Score:2, Interesting)
I have never in my life paid a bill other than through the web interface of a bank. In fact, I don't even know how you do it otherwise.
I have asked my bank about what they can do for me if I want to pay things with checks, though (if I can find someone who will accept it). At first they didn't understand me; then they just chuckled and told me that they don't do that stuff anymore.
I'm born in 1983.