Barclays plans talking ATMs for the blind

Barclays says it will roll out 'talking ATMs' in the UK next year, backing the Royal National Institute of Blind People's Make Money Talk campaign.

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Barclays plans talking ATMs for the blind

Editorial

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Towards the end of next year, audio jacks will be added to machines so that blind and partially sighted people can plug in earphones and listen to options for transactions.

The RNIB launched its Make Money Talk campaign in September, calling for banks in the UK to provide ATMs with audio facilities for nearly 400,000 registered blind and partially sighted Brits.

Despite the UK having the first ever ATM in the world, it only has 85 talking ATMs which are accessible to blind and partially sighted people - compared to more than 100,000 in the US.

Bob Bond, chief UK distribution officer, Barclays, says: "Our announcement today will mean that blind and partially sighted people will have greater access and choice when using ATMs providing increased independence and privacy."

In August the European Union backed a project designed to make "public digital terminals" such as cash machines more accessible to disabled people, putting up EUR3.41 million - around half of the overall budget - for a project called APSIS4All.

The Barclays move could prove more practical than UK charity Canine Partners' 2007 plan to train dogs to use cash machines for their disabled owners.

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Comments: (1)

Kiran Kannambadi

Kiran Kannambadi Head of Digital Technology at First Abu Dhabi Bank

This is a great initiative and I believe it will improve the experience of the differently abled. However, I also believe that the programme would add more value if the ATMs were fitted with headsets (and possibly microphone). It is a lot more convenient for the blind to find a large headset to use over their ears than find a small audio jack in which they insert their own headset!

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