Man without arms turned down for housing loan because he couldn't provide fingerprint identification

A young man without arms who applied for a loan to buy his own home was denied getting the money since he could not provide fingerprints to identify himself. 

The incredible case of the 25-year-old who was barred from an essential housing loan has revealed a bureaucratic failure in a system which believes signatures are not legally binding.

The prospective homeowner, Wu Jianping, lost both his arms after receiving a severe electric shock when he was five.

Although he is able to form a signature by writing with a pen held in his mouth, banks where he lives in Zhengzhou, Henan province in China, require a fingerprint to, of which he has none.

 

 

According to an employee, as reported by China Daily, "Fingerprinting is a common practice because signatures can be imitated, but there is no way to copy a fingerprint".

Thanks to the publicity garnered by the young man's plight, some of the banks which had turned him down since November 14 have since changed their minds.