Sunday, June 14, 2009

Convenient Banking

I arrived in Ghana safely for my second stay - this time for only three months. We now have three employees, so I’ll be working primarily on marketing and testing new business concepts. The others will keep the current operations running.

Immediately upon my arrival, I was reminded that things aren’t quite as “buttoned down” as I have become used to at home over the last few months - data security, for instance. The good news is that there is now an ATM in the international baggage claim area at the Accra airport. Most international travelers know they generally receive a better exchange rate through their banks and therefore prefer using an ATM to the Foreign Exchange Bureaus. So, ATM in the baggage claim? – definitely a good thing.

The bad news? Well, the PC with the ATM’s brains, as well as the modem, and router (probably?) and all the cabling and power cords are in a jumble on the floor next to the ATM. Now, wouldn’t that PC have all the programmed logic in it to access the network of banks around the world? And several times a day, that ATM is surrounded by the chaotic jumble of hundreds of people, luggage carts, and bags of every sort. Is it just me, or does it seem like it would be easy to pop that PC into a suitcase and carry it out?

XO

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