A Touch Of Inclusion
Who we are
A Touch Of Inclusion is our campaign to ensure that Blind, Deafblind and Partially-sighted people, including those with additional impairments, can pay our money into our chosen banks, and spend it in a manner which people who don’t share our impairments take for granted.
In an increasingly digital and cashless society, financial inclusion for blind and partially sighted people is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
At the 2024 AGM, the Federation passed a motion submitted by the London branch. It called on NFBUK to advocate on critical priorities to tackle procedures and practices that hinder blind and partially sighted people’s ability to gain access to their own money and manage their finances independently.
The following examples serve to illustrate some of the barriers faced, though it should be noted that this is not an exhaustive list, and other critical priorities exist:
* The rising prevalence of inaccessible Touchscreen point-of-sale Card Readers on the High Street and in taxis, breaching Equality legislation
* Difficulty accessing cash with ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) lacking accessibility features
* New developments of Flat Bank Cards that make it difficult to distinguish between different cards
* Inconsistencies between Banks on Weather debit and credit cards have tactile features
* The increasing difficulties we face when getting cash, due to widespread closures of Bank Branches in the High Street
*Failure of Financial Service Providers to deliver information in customers’ preferred formats, contravening the Equality Act 2010, thereby causing digital exclusion
By acknowledging these pressing concerns and focusing on addressing the most critical priorities, we aim to drive positive change and promote financial inclusion for our blind and partially sighted community.
Case Studies
We are collecting stories from our members that illustrate the everyday challenges they encounter when managing their finances such as:
• when drawing cash from banks
• When paying for goods and services
• When gaining access to bank statements
You can read about members’ experiences here:
A Touch Of Inclusion – campaign subgroup
We have formed a subgroup to tackle the issues outlined above. Its members are:
• Clive Lever
• Pardy Gill
• Liz Silver
• Anna Lawson
Objectives
NFBUK aims to achieve a society in which everyone, regardless of their impairment or impairments can acquire and spend their own money, and to find out how much we have in our banks, without needing assistance from third parties.
• We should buy goods without being invited to share our PINs with shopkeepers
• We should not have to decide whether to go into a restaurant depending on the type of card reader they use
• We should be able to read our own bank statements
• We should be able to draw cash from all Automatic Teller Machines (ATM’s) without sighted help
External Websites
Read a BBC News article showing how Touch Screen Card devices may prevent blind people from paying (05 November 2023)
Hear the edition of Radio 4 In Touch dedicated to touchscreen card machines
And the edition of Money Box Live on Radio 4 reporting on how Banks fail blind people managing their own finances