Elderly and disabled face barriers to cash access
Research reveals that vulnerable people struggle to access cash and are resorting to sharing private details.
Elderly and disabled people are facing a diverse range of barriers when trying to access their money, according to new research.
As a result, they have developed potentially risky strategies in order to get by, including sharing confidential information.
The study, undertaken by Policis and Toynbee Hall for the Payments Council, involved in-depth interviews with people aged over 80 and those with physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities.
Findings
The people interviewed spoke of physical obstacles getting to bank branches and particular trouble using cash machines.
Problems identified included a lack of disabled parking at sites, visual confusion created by ATMs with non-standard designs, and remembering PINs.
The report also found that technology was sometimes both a gift and a curse. Some younger disabled participants said they were confidently using technological developments like internet banking, voice activated software and smartphones to manage finances. But other groups found these methods too challenging and lacked confidence when using them.
Concerns over privacy
The big concern identified in the research was that there was sometimes no other way for this vulnerable section of society to allow others to help than by sharing PINs, passwords and card details with friends or family, potentially putting themselves at risk of being defrauded.
The report found that not many people knew of alternative ways to pay for things, for example that they could still sign for a card purchase rather than entering their PIN. For more on this, read The alternative to chip and pin cards.
Other coping strategies like stockpiling food or asking for cashback at stores was employed by those who lived alone with no support and those with little access to technology.
Changes
The lack of options for elderly and disabled people was a key factor when the Payments Council decided to backtrack on the plan to phase out chequebooks.
Now the key areas highlighted in this study will be used to develop new payment solutions as part of the National Payments Plan, which is designed to help people pay for things more easily and confidently.
More on security
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How to protect your digital media
ALLOW: new ways to protect your privacy and information online
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