Mastercard’s tactile update improves card accessibility

US – In a bid to expand its inclusivity efforts, the financial services company is introducing an accessible card standard to support blind and partially sighted people. Mastercard’s innovation, the Touch Card, includes a round notch for credit cards, a broad squarish notch for debit cards and a triangular notch for prepaid cards.

By adding these simple additions, Mastercard shows how existing designs can be updated to suit a broad range of consumers. This accessible card standard has also been developed to work with card machines and ATMs – ensuring it can be deployed at scale. ‘The Touch Card will provide a greater sense of security, inclusivity and independence to the 2.2bn people around the world with visual impairments,’ says Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard.

As brands across sectors recognise the importance of designing inclusive everyday products, Mastercard is setting an example in the fintech sector by showing how its products and services can better cater for diverse audiences.