Accessibility activities gather pace

Dutch banks want their services to be available to everyone, including vulnerable groups such as older people and people with disabilities. To make banking services even more accessible to these groups, a collective action plan was approved by the National Forum on the Payment System (MOB) in mid-2021.

The action plan is coordinated by a core team comprising representatives of DNB, the secretary of the interbank Working Group on Accessibility and Inclusivity (WTI), who is an employee of the Dutch Payments Association, and a representative of people in vulnerable situations. Actions affecting our members are discussed regularly with banks’ accessibility managers. Banks are taking action in many forms, both individually and collectively, to implement the plan.

Awareness of available services

The action plan aims to raise awareness of banks’ existing initiatives for vulnerable groups, including mobile care coaches, dedicated customer services, courses, websites and telephone numbers. It also aims to improve banks’ services where necessary through personal attention at local level. This could include establishing service points with local civil society organisations, for example in libraries. Finally, the plan seeks to work with civil society organisations to identify the needs of vulnerable groups and devise additional solutions where necessary.

Several actions have now been implemented successfully. These include making more systematic use of the expertise of advocacy organisations, gathering information about dedicated services for vulnerable groups and identifying obstacles affecting those services. Various local pilots, including projects in libraries, are being launched, while advocacy organisations’ communication channels are being used more effectively to reach their communities.

Cooperation with civil society organisations

The core team consults a wide range of organisations, including MantelzorgNL, the Digital Government Information Point (IDO) and various welfare organisations. This gives the core team a better understanding of the needs identified by these umbrella organisations.

The Dutch Payments Association has launched a project with design agency Muzus to understand the different subgroups among people who do not currently use online or mobile banking. The study is being conducted in cooperation with the Alliance for Digital Society and the Online Banking Chain Approach project team, in which banks have been involved for some time.

By addressing obstacles across the sector, all stakeholders aim to ensure that banking services are as accessible as possible, now and in the future, especially for the most vulnerable people.

European Accessibility Act

The Working Group on Accessibility and Inclusivity (WTI) focuses on matters including the European Accessibility Act and what this legislation means for the sector. What action do banks need to take? The WTI is also following up on a study carried out with the Oogvereniging, the Dutch association for people with visual impairments. It will turn the study’s recommendations into specific projects.