Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Paragraph: 34
Mandate banks to adopt inclusive design for cards and ATMs, ensuring full accessibility
Recommendation
The Financial Conduct Authority should work with the retail banking sector and organisations such as the RNIB to ensure all banks embrace inclusive design from the outset when innovating or phasing out existing services. We recommend that all banks: • roll out flat bank cards that are accessible to disabled people, and continue to issue embossed cards to customers who request them; • in addition to tactile indicators, ensure that all flat bank cards have a clear visual design, including colour, good contrast and large font size; and • where ATMs are provided, ensure they have been user tested with disabled people, installed in locations accessible to all and are regularly checked to guarantee that accessible features are in working order.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states that banking services must be accessible and highlights existing legal requirements for reasonable adjustments. It details ongoing work by the financial services industry with RNIB, including features like dot/notch on cards and talking ATMs, but does not commit to the specific new actions recommended for inclusive design or card roll-out.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
34
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that banking and payments services are accessible for those who are blind and partially sighted. The Equality Act 2010 requires all relevant parties, including financial services providers, merchants and card machine operators, to make reasonable adjustments in the way they deliver their services to support those with visual impairments. Under the Consumer Duty, the Financial Conduct Authority sets out clear expectations on firms’ treatment of customers with protected characteristics and reminds firms of their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation. Firms are expected to consider the diverse needs of their customers at every stage of the customer journey, including when designing their products and services. Where firms hold data about customers’ protected characteristics, the FCA expects firms to use this as part of monitoring outcomes for consumers and ensuring that they are upholding their obligations under the Duty and legislation. The financial services industry has also been working with organisations such as the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) to make payment services more accessible. The financial services sector has worked with the RNIB to roll out accessible products, including making payment cards easily identifiable and usable for visually impaired people through “dot and notch” features. The RNIB has also worked with 7 high street banks to ensure they provide ‘talking ATMs’. These are ATMs which, when used with headphones, will provide the customer with audio instructions. There is also wider work to improve accessibility of payments for those with visual impairments. UK Finance and the RNIB have published accessibility guidance for electronic point-of-sale payment devices (which sets out general display requirements for visually impaired individuals), and have also published a list of vendors who produce approved payment devices. UK Finance and EY also began a series of forums to explore accessibility barriers that exist within banking and financial services, to bring industry together on this issue and better understand the barriers that many face in accessing banking services. UK Finance is working with relevant parties to work through the solutions proposed through these forums, in order to bring industry initiatives into reality. Accessible food packaging The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should review its food packaging guidance in light of new technological approaches being developed and ensure a minimum accessibility requirement on food packaging’s essential nutrition, health and pricing information.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗