EPayments Project Final Report of Initial Project Work rnib innovation Unit



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1.2 Scope

The first phase of this project was a fact finding phase and this report summarises the findings of the work performed so far. This work was split into three sections with the following aims:


To:

  • Review research literature on ePayment solutions

  • Perform a brief expert appraisal of ePayment solutions

  • Understand what industry is doing in terms of rolling out ePayment solutions.

By doing this, RNIB will gain an understanding of the current situation and will be able to strategically direct its resources to focus on the most important solutions.


The project team discussed the need for user input to help determine where RNIB should focus our attention. Decisions about the development of ePayment systems will be driven by the market so it was decided that user input would have limited value at this stage of the project.


2.0 Review of literature

The first stage of the project involved collecting information about research that had already been carried out into the needs of people with sight loss using ePayment systems. Since there is a wide range of ePayment technologies, we decided to split this research analysis into three specific sectors. The following literature review looks at technologies that are being used in:


1) The finance sector

2) The retail sector

3) The transport sector
In addition to these areas, is a piece of research conducted by RNIB’s research team, Evidence and Service Impact1. This research sought the experiences, expectations and preferences of blind and partially sighted people in relation to management of finances.
The research had a number of key findings and conclusions which need to be considered when thinking about ePayment solutions. Firstly, there is a variation between how people control their finances. Some allow a third party (such as a friend or relative) to manage their money, whilst it appears that some use powers of attorneys to sort this problem out. The research did not determine whether people were happy with third parties controlling their money.

The research identified that cash is usually withdrawn by a person visiting their bank although this was not so important for older people. ATM’s were highlighted as a source of money but also a greater source of problems for a number of different reasons from poor visual information to a lack of audio output.


The identification of banks notes was problematic for some however coping strategies (such as folding notes in particular ways) had been employed to solve the problem.
Direct debit was seen as a common method for paying regular bills; however the use of internet and telephone based payment systems were less common. The reason for this could be down to the individual being asked for their card details, which they couldn’t read.
One of the most interesting findings focussed on the use of technology. The research highlighted that, “The use of technology and gadgets appeared to be a marker of those who had a greater degree of independence in controlling their finances.” This is quite telling and shows that where solutions are in place, and can be made use of, the more successful an individual will be to control their money.
The research concluded that the ability of blind and partially sighted people to control their own money is hindered by a number of different barriers. The results of these barriers are a loss of privacy and a greater reliance on other people.

2.1 The Finance Stream

This stream was intended to capture any available literature or research around the accessibility of activities pertaining to managing finances and making payments in environments other than retail and transport (e.g. managing a user's bank account, making regular payments such as utility bills and so on), specifically for blind and partially sighted people, but also for people with other disabilities. Information about the various reports can be found in Appendix A.

During the desk research however, a few significant things emerged.


  • Most issues around managing finance actually fall under the remit of web accessibility for the reason that accessibility of online banking services seems to be the most researched topic.

  • More alternatives for users to manage their finances or make regular payments exist in the finance stream as opposed to retail and transport streams (e.g. telephone banking)

  • Most of the identified research or literature may not be relevant anymore because of the pace at which technology is evolving.


2.2 The Retail Stream

The literature review and desk research in this stream was mainly concentrated around identifying any prior studies which could help the project team get a better understanding of the challenges that blind and partially sighted people face when trying to pay for their purchases in a retail environment. Information about the various reports can be found in Appendix B. Some of the key findings from this research are mentioned below.




  • Contactless payment technology seems to be growing in popularity as it is being heavily promoted by banks, credit card companies as well as retailers.

  • Although a number of card companies are claiming that they are issuing a large number of contactless cards, it is however not clear how the uptake amongst consumers is.

  • Contactless technology seems to present the biggest challenge for blind and partially sighted people as most of the process is not accessible and users don't have a sense of control like they seem to have with chip and pin.

  • The other area of concern for blind and partially sighted users is the growing popularity of automated point of sale kiosks like the self check-out machines found in most supermarkets.





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