Ajman Bank, situated in the United Arab Emirates, has partnered with Mastercard to introduce a card for clients who are blind or partially sighted. The Mastercard Touch Card has characteristic notches on the side to assist clients to recognise it, and Ajman is the first issuer in the world to introduce it.
Mohamed Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Ajman Bank, said: “At Ajman Bank inclusion is an integral aspect of our corporate culture and social responsibility. Innovation has the power to change the world for the better. We are delighted to partner with Mastercard to be the first movers to help drive this innovative solution that will help us to respond to everyone’s needs. For visually impaired customers, selecting the right card can very often be a challenging experience.”
He added: “Touch Card allows consumers to quickly distinguish which card they are using through the three distinct notches. We’ve always appreciated Mastercard’s vision for thinking of new ways to innovate and do things differently to serve more people.”
Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President of Healthcare, Mastercard, said: “This initiative is taking inclusion to the next level as we look to promote accessibility in new and meaningful ways. This world-first collaboration with Ajman Bank to introduce the Mastercard Touch Card will offer a greater level of independence and security to blind and partially sighted individuals across the UAE.”
Features of the ‘inclusive’ design
To help customers properly use the right card, Mastercard has devised a system of notches on the side of the card as a straightforward innovation to handle this difficulty. Prepaid cards will have a triangle notch, credit cards a square notch, and debit cards a rounded notch.
The notches are made to help people who are blind or partially sighted identify their credit, debit, or prepaid cards more quickly, a common difficulty. As more cards adopt flat designs without embossed names and numbers, according to Mastercard, the issue has gotten worse in recent years.
The new card’s design has been vetted and endorsed by The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the UK and VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the U.S. and co-designed by IDEMIA, the leader in Identity Technologies. As part of their commitment to creating financial accessibility for blind and partially sighted cardholders, they also launched a signature melody as an audio cue for successful transactions to checkout counters worldwide.
