title: Barriers to Banking - Towards an Inclusive Banking Environment in South Africa.
abstract: A recent study in South Africa on the barriers to banking which involved customers in three disability groups namely mobility, hearing and vision has highlighted that currently banking in South Africa is not accessible. Customers with a disability are unable to independently use banking services across a wide range of channels. Exclusion from something as fundamental as managing their own financial affairs raise serious human rights concerns and requires committed action from decision-makers to address this. The fact that solutions to all of the identified barriers have been successfully implemented in banks in other parts of the world for many years emphasize that this is not a technical challenge. While some solutions require complex or expensive changes such as removing physical access barriers and ensuring that digital channels meet internationally accepted standards of accessibility, there are many simple and low-cost solutions which can be implemented immediately and would make a world of difference to these customers and their experience of banking. One key barrier which emerged in all the focus groups and surveys is attitudinal barriers - staff who are unwilling to assist, impatient, interact with the customer's assistant instead of directly with them and lack basic skills on how to interact with someone who has a disability. A comprehensive framework of banking was used to identify a wide range of barriers. The barriers were classified as attitudinal, barriers to physical access, digital access barriers, barriers to information, communication barriers and some generic concerns such as safe evacuation during emergencies and alternative authentication. Both the barriers and the solutions where ranked by participants. From a theoretical perspective, the benefit of a customer-centric approach to understanding these barriers and the innovation potential of a Universal Design approach is affirmed by this study.
authors.affiliation: Enable Network, South Africa.
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martinson
authors.affiliation: York St John University, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinson
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D000067012:Banking, Personal; D003132:Commerce; D003142:Communication; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D017144:Focus Groups; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D013019:South Africa