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A new report found instances when people with disabilities were required to ‘prove’ their ‘capacity to manage their money’.
People with disabilities face discrimination in Ireland while accessing basic financial services, according to a new report by the National Advocacy Service (NAS) for people with disabilities.
While NAS notes in its report a “clear willingness” from the financial services sector to respond to challenges, there are still difficulties that “greatly impact people with disabilities”.
More than 10pc of the cases that NAS dealt with last year focused on supporting people with financial advocacy issues, yet there is little written about this issue in an Irish context, noted Joanne Condon, national manager of NAS.
“Despite significant advances in progressing the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland over the past decade, it has become increasingly apparent that many people with disabilities continue to face significant challenges in exercising their financial autonomy and rights,” Condon wrote.
People with disabilities are often directed to ‘vulnerable customer units’ when accessing financial services, purely on the basis of their disability, the report found, adding that this is a discriminatory approach. According to NAS, this focus on ‘vulnerability’ does not see people with disabilities as “citizens with rights”.
The report also stated instances when people with disabilities were required to “prove” their “capacity to manage their money,” and were not afforded access to their bank statements and even prohibited from closing their bank account. In some cases, financial institutions allowed a third party to control a person’s money – even in cases where it is not legitimate.
Digitalisation adds to issues
Moreover, the report said that digitalisation in the banking sector has meant more complex authentication requirements, automated customer support and a lack of accessible information, such as easy-to-read formats, further excluding people with disabilities from accessing financial services.
“Online chatbots and automated customer supports that have become commonplace in modern banking are often very challenging for people with disabilities to use and access,” the report noted.
“All financial institutions in Ireland must evidently work to ensure any digital advancements are fully accessible to all and should review such practices to ensure digital exclusion is not experienced by any person who wishes to access their services.”
NAS is calling for a “human rights-based approach to banking”, moving away from a “paternalistic and/or medicalised view of people with disabilities in the finance sector to recognising people with disabilities on an equal basis”.
It also calls for further training of financial staff, regular consultations with people with disabilities and reviews to improve accessibility of services to optimise the access for all people.
People with disabilities unfortunately face discrimination in many sectors. A recent accessibility and inclusive design survey by Applause showed that even though almost half of the businesses (44pc) said they prioritise digital accessibility, less than one in five (19pc) actually had the internal resources necessary to implement testing.
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