Startup creates money-disinfecting cash machine that 'KILLS coronavirus'

21 Mar, 2020 09:54 / Updated 4 years ago

With the coronavirus pandemic claiming hundreds more lives every day, one startup tech company has invented a clever way to tackle the problem feared to be helping the disease’s spread: ATMs dispensing the virus along with cash.

Istanbul-based company Money Shower has created a disinfection module for ATMs that removes bacteria and viruses, including Covid-19, from paper money before it gets into people’s hands.

With the average banknote carrying thousands of types of bacteria and viruses, countries sometimes take the drastic step of collecting cash, destroying it and printing fresh notes in a bid to combat the spread of disease.

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That measure is usually only taken during major outbreaks, so, most of the time, nasty bugs are allowed to circulate unchecked.

The Turkish company’s technology can provide a solution to this problem, using ultraviolet light to zap pathogens on money that’s sitting in ATMs, before people get a chance to accidentally pick them up.

“The module we developed makes all ATMs hygienic and environmentally friendly in 15 minutes,” Money Shower Co-Founder Furkan Erucan told Anadolu Agency.

The company sells products to Turkey’s leading banks and, after pilot trials, it plans to roll out the technology in cash machines across the country.

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