Credit Card Payments Go to the Street

Ralph Deleuro has a million dollar idea.

Ever since a drive in Las Vegas' downtown district, Deleuro has been convinced that there was a better way to take care of transactions among the nation's downtrodden. Deleuro watches with dismay as a beggar who went by the street name "Gonzo" was beaten and left for dead outside the liquor store for the few dollars he had managed to beg that night on Vegas' famour Fremont Street.

Now, Deleuro believes he has come up with the solution. Armed with a small digital device about the size of an iPod, he is approaching the banking industry and homeless advocates with his idea.

Tentatively dubbed "Portabank", the device contains a slot to swipe a credit card. It then transmits the donation to a bank account that is handled through homeless shelters, churches and social services organizations. Deleuro hopes that it will bring inner city crime to a standstill.

"Imagine a world where prostitutes are no longer beaten up on the street because their night's take is securely deposited in a bank account and inaccessible to the would be mugger. Where drug dealers don't run the risk of gangster style shoot outs for plying their trade. Where illegal gamblers no longer worry about ending up on the wrong end of the knife."

Deleuro imagines his device eventually working its way into the world of garage sales, lemonade stands and schoolyard bullying. "We live in a technological world, and it's about time that mainstream America realized that. If we can reduce inner city violence through modern technology, then everybody wins".

Deleuro is well aware that people will be reluctant to use the swipe devices, for fear of credit card fraud or that their vice activity will be detected. "We use discreet billing," he promised, "and every transaction is fully encrypted. This technology is as hack proof as it gets".