In Bangladesh, about 50% of the population is still deprived of financial inclusion. Persons with disabilities, however, are deprived even more.
Vashkar Bhattacharjee just wanted to apply for a credit card. A visually impaired person, he was shocked to see that despite being qualified and complying with all the requirements to have a credit card, he was told that he could not have one.
“You are blind so we cannot give you a credit card,” was the unsympathetic reply from the bank.
Vashkar decided to take matters into his own hands—issuing a formal written complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which then arranged a hearing with the country’s central bank authority (Bangladesh Bank) and the concerned bank. Vashkar was then granted permission to receive a credit card immediately.
This is not an issue of prejudice, but as Vashkar himself recounts, it is a recurring theme because people often lack proper awareness and understanding of persons with disabilities. After all, if a person with a disability can pursue higher education from the best institution or be employed in the best of companies, having debit and credit cards cannot be an issue. If a visually impaired person can use a smartphone without help from others, where there are no buttons, why can’t that person use a credit card?
When it comes to the rights of persons with disabilities, Bangladesh has not shied away from enacting policies. Bangladesh was proudly one of the first 20 nations to endorse the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The country’s central bank established standards to provide accessibility for all persons with disabilities.
Yet, as far as Vashkar Bhattacharjee is concerned, most banks do not follow the directives set by Bangladesh Bank. Many in the financial sector in Bangladesh, unfortunately, believe that visually impaired people cannot use a credit card or an ATM booth. Yet, with Braille and now with talking software and AI, there is no reason for persons with disabilities to be deprived of essential banking services.
There is, however, hope for the future.
Individuals such as Vashkar and a2i’s Disability Innovation Lab are pushing for an inclusive banking system to ensure digital services are accessible to all citizens, including persons with disabilities, especially those residing in rural and remote areas.
Due to Vashkar’s formal written complaint to the NHRC and his filing a case, the court ruling in his favour declared that banks would have to ensure accessibility for their services and were instructed to identify the barriers concerning the accessibility in the banking sector of Bangladesh, with the consultation of a2i.
This is a landmark case that cannot be overlooked. Who knows how many Vashkar Bhattacharjees are deprived of services that are their rights as citizens? It needed Vashkar’s knowledge and wherewithal to shake up the national agencies of Bangladesh—where the NHRC and the Central Bank had to be involved. So far, a2i has begun to consult with five national private banks, with two of them—Islami Bank and Eastern Bank Limited—making the most progress. This one incident and Vashkar’s commitment to fighting for not his rights but those of his fellow brethren who suffer from disabilities promise that the whole of society will change and see a significant shift in how digital services are offered in the financial sector.
As we imagine a Bangladesh and a world with zero digital divide, powerful interventions such as Vashkar’s will be catalysts along the way to ensure the success of this most ambitious endeavour.
