La Banque Postale's turn to offer voice cards

La Banque Postale took advantage of the National Day for the Blind and Visually Impaired, held on October 4, to announce the launch of a new bank card presented as both affinitive and responsible. The card is aimed specifically at La Banque Postale customers with visual impairments. Deployment is due to take place after an initial test phase.

FACTS

• La Banque Postale is launching a bank card for the visually impaired, in partnership with CB, FinTech HandSome (housed in the Platform58 group's start-up incubator) and the Thales group.

• Deployment of this new means of payment will begin at the end of October, as part of a trial involving visually impaired and blind employees of La Banque Postale. Six months of tests are planned before wider deployment of the device.

• The Bluetooth-enabled voice card works in conjunction with the holder's smartphone. Cardholders are supported in their use of the card by a dedicated application, which helps them to follow each stage of the transaction by, for example, vocalizing the information presented on the Eftpos terminal.

• In this way, users can simply check the transaction amount before validating the payment by entering the code.

CHALLENGES

• Meeting the needs of an entire segment of the population: According to a World Health Organization report dated August 2023, nearly 2 million people in France are affected by visual impairment (blindness, impaired visual acuity or vision disorders).

• Adapting anti-fraud tools: Visual impairments give rise to special needs, and therefore to the need to adapt our offerings. Indeed, a survey conducted by HandSome and Ethik Connection in 2019 among 120 people in France revealed that 89% of visually impaired people had already been victims of fraud, error or scam at a merchant when making a payment.

• Keeping our commitments: La Banque Postale underlines the fact that the launch of this device corresponds to its broader commitments in favor of inclusion, and more specifically in support of visually impaired people. The group has also offered a banking application accessible to visually impaired/non-vision-impaired customers since 2016.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• La Banque Postale is now involved in the deployment of the voice card, while HandSome and Thalès presented a first version of their device in April 2021. Since then, Crédit Agricole's Normandie-Seine regional bank has launched the marketing of this “talking card”.

• The issue has been taken into account beyond France, and for several years now. In the UK, for example, RBS and Natwest launched their dedicated card for the visually impaired in 2015.