There are calls for greater action to make it easier for people with disabilities to access financial services in New Zealand.
A report released by Westpac today found the disabled community encountered a range of physical and intellectual barriers on a daily basis while trying to access financial services.
Denise Hoffman’s daughter Melissa has Down syndrome, autism, and low vision. She told 1News that because her daughter is unable to access a bank account on her own, she needed to take charge of finances.
“Melissa has absolutely no capacity or understanding of Eftpos cards. She doesn’t read or write,” Hoffman said.
She said things became difficult when her daughter turned 18, and the bank didn’t recognise that she was under a Protection of Personal and Property Rights arrangement, giving Hoffman control of her finances.
“I’m not even allowed to have [Melissa’s] pin number,” she said.
“When I go to the bank, I go in hypervigilant, just waiting for that barrage of questions.
“I have to brace myself for the questions that are going to come and to have to prove myself, prove my daughter, prove her capacity even though we’ve got the paper.”
Hoffman is calling for the industry to make banking more accessible for people with disabilities and their caregivers.
Mike Potter, the CEO of disability advisory service Disability Connect, said difficulties accessing financial services were experienced across the community.
“We’ve had calls from family members who are struggling to be able to make appointments at banks. It’s really hard for a disabled person to get an ID that can be suitable,” he said.
“For low vision people as well, too, or non-verbal people, it’s hard to control and access bank accounts.”
‘Not very inclusive’
Westpac today released a report which found “greater action” was needed to make it easier for people with disabilities to access banking services.
Westpac CEO Catherine McGrath said: “It was about understanding what are the barriers, and therefore what can we do about it to make it easier for those more than one million New Zealanders to access financial services.”
The research found people with disabilities experienced challenges with identification requirements, a limited choice of services, the accessibility of physical and online banking channels, the capability and understanding of bank staff, and the complex legal requirements around caregiver roles.
The research highlighted four key areas of improvement, including banks making services more accessible considering strict security requirements, and improved accessibility of services.
Potter said that for disabled Kiwis, banks were “not very personable”.
“It’s not very welcoming, and it’s not very inclusive.”
Westpac called on the Government to accelerate its updates around Customer Due Diligence requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism rules. McGrath said she wanted to work with the Government and other banks on the issue.
“We have a legal obligation to require our customers to provide robust proof of identity, to prevent money laundering and other crimes, but we also believe there is a need for greater flexibility, particularly around regulated requirements like proof of address,” McGrath said.
She added that the bank was building accessibility requirements into its app and online services, as well as providing consistency in the layout and design of its physical branches.
Training on how to help people with disabilities was another area of improvement.
The bank has since introduced new training modules for employees and worked with the Hidden Sunflower Programme, which trained customer-facing staff to recognise that people wearing a sunflower may have a hidden disability.
“They might only see one disabled person a year or every two years, but they need to prepare to know what to do when someone who has a disability arrives,” Potter said.
It’s hoped the recommendations would be picked up by other banks across the country.
“The benefit of the report is everybody can get that information and choose to make their own decisions. So, we’ll be sharing it across the banking industry as well,” McGrath said.
