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Banking and Financial Services

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Banking and Financial Services

A large number of persons with disabilities are unable to access banking and financial services autonomously and independently. This is due to a combination of physical and structural limitations in accessing financial institutions and misperceptions about the ability of persons with disabilities to handle personal finances. (Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, 2015).

Data collected in 2017 by the National Disability Institute (USA) regarding the banking status and financial behaviours of persons with disabilities revealed that:

  • Households with a disability were three times more likely to have no current or savings account compared to households with no disability (18 percent versus 6 percent).
  • Households with disabilities were more likely to rely on bank officers and less likely to use online or mobile banking facilities. Thirty-seven percent of households with a disability used online or mobile as the primary method to access their account compared with 62 percent of households with no disability.
  • Compared to households without a disability, those with a disability were much less likely to have a credit card, store credit, mortgage or home equity, vehicle loan or student loan.

Banking Challenges Faced by Persons with Disabilities in Malaysia

In Malaysia, persons with disabilities continue to face many barriers, and even exclusion, to accessing banking and financial services. Some of them are:

  • Inconsistent banking policies for Blind and Visually Impaired persons.
  • Inaccessible banking websites and applications
  • Inaccessible ATM machines.
  • Inaccessible buildings.
  • Inaccessible banking information.

The following articles highlight the challenges faced by Malaysian persons with disabilities in accessing banking and financial services:

Disability-Inclusive Banking and Financial Services

Financial institutions must make their services accessible, non-discriminating and inclusive to all persons with disabilities:

  • Non-discriminating policies towards persons with disabilities.
  • Disability-sensitive and disability-inclusive training for all staff members and leaders.
  • Accessible buildings and built facilities.
  • Accessible Automated Teller Machines (ATM) at wheelchair accessible height.
  • Banking information that is accessible to all, such as:
  1. Braille,
  2. captions/subtitles and sign language interpretation in videos,
  3. images with alt text,
  4. screenreader accessible pdf files,
  5. written in plain and easy to understand language.
  • Sign language interpretation services – Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM).
  • Websites that are compliant with the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) criteria.
  • Banking mobile applications that are compliant with the latest WCAG criteria.

Resources

*Note: Resources linked are in English and pdf or webpage format, unless stated otherwise.

Banking status and financial behaviors of adults with disabilities by the National Disability Institute.

Digital Accessibility in Financial Services: It’s Critical and Here’s Why by Essential Accessibility.

Making Online Banking and ATMs Accessible to People with Disabilities by Level Access.

Banking on Accessibility : A case for accessible banking for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) by Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC)

How To Make Online Banking Disabled-People-Friendly by Sachin Gulhane, Cognizant