EPayments Project Final Report of Initial Project Work rnib innovation Unit

4.5 Additional opportunities

1. 
   RNIB has joined a consortium bidding for work to develop accessibility standards for self service kiosks (EU ICT PSP 3.3 E-Accessibility for Public Digital Terminals). Regardless of our success with the bid, the work of this project could have significant implications for the project team.
   
2. 
   Royal Holloway, University of London is home to The Smart Card Centre (SCC), founded by the university, Vodafone and Giesecke & Devrient. The primary objective is to create a world-wide centre of excellence for training and research in the field of smart cards, applications and related technologies²⁸. The SCC has links with several major providers and deployers of smart card technology, including TfL, MasterCard, Visa and O₂. Since TfL's Oyster card is likely to be key transport payment method for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, working with TfL and SCC on making Oyster more accessible would help people and act as a benchmark for other schemes.
   
3. 
   SNAPI has been developed as a means to allow disabled people to adapt technology (such as ATM’s, and computers) to their needs. A SNAPI card stores their individual user preferences. When used with a machine that can interpret the SNAPI requirements, the changes are made. This means that the user is not having to configure a system every time they use it
   
4. 
   Visa are currently planning their strategy around payments for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the sole payment provider at the Games, any influence RNIB can have on Visa to introduce accessible payment solutions would help us to achieve a number of our goals. They are also one of the market leaders in developing near field communication payment methods and operate the world's largest consumer payment system²⁹. Although no specific project collaborations have been discussed, they are interested in working with RNIB on card design. It would be very helpful if RNIB can engage with them on broader issues around ePayment systems.
   
5. 
   Most of the UK high street banks are operating financial capability programmes³⁰. RNIB's synthesis of research showed that there is a knowledge gap between blind and partially sighted people and the services available to them. This is likely to be made worse as familiar payment systems change. There appears to be a willingness for high street banks to work with RNIB to improve financial capability. It will be vital for the work we do in ePayments to include a strong education theme.
   
6. 
   We need to engage with local authorities to find out how they are implementing the DfT strategy for smart and integrated ticketing systems. This could include:
   

• 
  Bolton Council for the sQuid card trial
  
• 
  Bracknell Forrest
  
• 
  Suffolk Xcape card
  

7. 
   The UK Payments Council have expressed an interest in funding research into the specific needs of blind and partially sighted people in relation to electronic payment methods. They have carried out research into the reasons why people currently like to use cheques, which is expected to help them ensure that alternative payment systems fill the needs currently covered by cheques.
   

5.0 Conclusions

The findings of this report provide a broad picture of the current situation. The literature review has shown that there is a lack of research into the issues blind and partially sighted people face when using ePayment solutions and that electronic payment systems are up and coming and therefore need to be reviewed further. Whilst the team only had a limited period in which to conduct the review, the lack of research was apparent. This suggests that whilst research may exist it is not freely available in the public domain. As such it is likely that industry stakeholders are not fully aware of the issues blind and partially sighted people face by the lack of accessibility features in ePayment solutions. Therefore there is a need for RNIB to conduct focussed research into the common ePayment methods. By doing this RNIB can provide the industry with the information needed to provide more inclusive solutions which will remove the barriers which currently exist.

The technology review highlights that each ePayment system has its own draw backs and that a holistic approach to these solutions is needed in order to bring about accessibility improvements. As such it will be necessary to provide guidance on all aspects of the major solutions from location in the environment to interface design. Only by doing this will these solutions become better for blind and partially sighted people.
Finally, and most importantly there are a number of plans to extend or roll out ePayment systems in the UK. It has been noted that the payments industry generally consolidates around several of payment methods. This will be to facilitate a high level of saturation but also because these solutions are not cheap to implement. As an example, there are a number of Chip and PIN manufacturers producing solutions for retailers and service providers, yet the method of payment is the same, Chip and PIN. Whilst this report highlights a number of different methods, it is important that, in the short and medium term, RNIB understands and latches onto those methods which the industry is looking to implement. In the long term RNIB should draw its attention to other ePayment methods but only once the issues which affect the short and medium solutions have been thoroughly investigated.

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