UBA introduces braille account to scale up financial inclusion for visually impaired

By Cynthia Ezekwe

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has unveiled the UBA Braille Account Opening Form, designed specifically to cater to the financial needs of the visually impaired.

The new UBA Braille Account Opening Form, a first of its kind initiative in the Nigerian and African market, was launched recently  at the bank’s head office in Lagos, and had in attendance key executive members of the bank and guests including  Cobhams Asuquo, multi-award winner, Nigerian musician, producer, and songwriter; Dare Dairo, general manager, Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA); Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal, former Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos state governor on persons living with disability, as well as students from the Pacelli School of the Blind.

Commenting on the development, Ugo Nwaghodoh, executive director, finance and risk management, UBA, said the bank would continue to look for ways to make the physically challenged and others comfortable in their life-long relationship with the financial industry.

 “In our quest to drive all-encompassing financial inclusion, we decided to support the visually impaired by developing a Braille Account Opening Form and these special customers now have the same opportunities available to our customers. The ultimate benefit is to ensure that everybody has the right to select and choose the kind of account they want to operate, and this account opening form will go a long way to ensure this,” Nwaghodoh added.

He noted that the UBA Braille Account Opening Form was produced with the support of the Anglo-Nigerian Welfare Association for the blind and the first of its kind in the industry.

Nwaghodoh emphasised that with the innovative solution, UBA had empowered blind customers to independently initiate and complete the account opening process, ensuring their seamless integration into the financial system.

“Until now, this unique and special section of the society has been disadvantaged, but with this ground-breaking initiative, UBA has fully demonstrated its unwavering commitment toward providing an excellent user experience for all its customers, regardless of their individual abilities or disabilities,” he added.

Endorsing the initiative,Cobhams Asuquo, described the braille account as an innovation that would present UBA as a bank with a heart that pays keen attention to the needs of the blind and disabled.

Asuquo added; “Before now, we have always been at the mercy of the reader when we want to do things like open accounts for ourselves, but this account opening form has come to solve the problem of access which has previously been a huge limiting factor for people like me who are blind.

“UBA has promoted our ideal of inclusivity and has helped to put back freedom in our hands while opening us up to the variety of opportunities and options available to us.’’