At RMB Private Bank, customers with disabilities are second-rate citizens

<p>Imagine having roughly 50% vision, not being able to drive, and having incredible difficulty reading text in apps and on printed documents. Imagine how hard you’d have to work to beat such a setback. Further, imagine how hard you’d have to work to earn the kind of career that affords you private banking services. Now imagine a bank that not only makes your life harder; but, couldn’t care less that it does so.</p> <p> </p> <p>Welcome to RMB Private Bank.</p> <p> </p> <p>I’d signed up to digital bank statements for two reasons: 1) the environment; and, 2) their much easier for me to read on my large computer screen. The problem, the bank sent me unsecured statements over e-mail meaning that anyone who intercepts my e-mail could open the statements. Who might intercept my e-mail? Google the Snowden leaks and the recent WikiLeaks Vault 7 publication. When I raised the matter with the bank, their solution was to put me back onto printed statements. They also punished me by taking away the eBucks I used to get for using the unsecure, digital bank statements. I’m still on paper statements today.</p> <p> </p> <p>Recently, I got a text message on my phone telling me that I needed to log into the RMB banking app in order to get my eBucks for the month. Naturally, I use an iPad Pro for things like banking because I scale the text size up on my apps. The banking app doesn’t support text scaling. The banking app deals with my finances, money I have to work very, very hard to earn. Is it too much to ask that the app has text I can read if the bank forces me to use the app?</p> <p> </p> <p>According to Evelyn Kgole at FNB Digital Banking, I should: “kindly note that the Banking App does not support text scaling, however our App is clearly visible.” Clearly visible to whom?</p> <p> </p> <p>Given the myriad of standards for accessibility and the fact that visual impairment affects many people, a business the size of FirstRand shouldn’t be getting this sort of stuff wrong; especially if customers are being forced to use the banking app.</p> <p> </p> <p>Can someone please explain to me why I should be punished and have rewards taken away from me when the bank is the one causing the problems?</p>