Brazil: Banks obliged to stop discriminating against persons with disabilities
By Digital Solidarity
To go to the bank, open an account, and receive the check book is a tedious task and almost impossible for blind persons in Brazil. Many persons with disabilities complain about the lack of accessibility to effective bank services. At the same time, bank personnel complain because persons who are blind or visually impaired are not able to read and therefore are not deemed responsible for what they sign.
There have been so many complaints of this type that the Labor Affairs Office of the State of Sao Paulo, the General Attorney and the Department of Justice issued a Memorandum to the Brazil Federal Reserve Bank, calling for the establishment of a series of measures within the banking system to improve services for persons with disabilities.
The Memorandum states to the Federal Reserve: "existing bank regulations must adopt the following: all present and future facilities and services (offices, tellers, and windows) have to be accessible, and all contracts and pertinent documentation must be written and printed in such a way as to be readily understood by persons with disabilities, without the need for them to be represented or aided by a third person when making ordinary bank transaction, including deposits and transfer of money, and providing for copies of contracts in Braille."
Banks are mandated to print and make available magnetic bank cards, printed in relief so persons who are blind may read them by touch. These dispositions include training of bank personnel and to agencies that provided similar services, so that they may provide assistance and efficient services to clients and users with special needs.
According to Adilson Ventura of the Brazil Union of Blind Persons (Unión de Ciegos de Brasil (UCB), these accommodations within the banking system and the provision of training to bank officers are urgently needed. The demand for accessible bank services for persons with disabilities has increased considerably during the past four years.
Ventura told us: "There are laws ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. Yet there still is much confrontation when it comes to existing prejudice and discrimination by society, and it ends in lack of performance".
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