Citizens Bank has partnered with Mastercard to launch a touch card for its Private Client Checking Account U.S. customers .
“The touch card is a nice start,” said Brian Riley, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. “It is an example of how cards can be customized to be even more inclusive. After Citizens Bank finishes with its test for top-end clients, it will be great to see something like this for the mass market. That would be a measurable test of the market.”
On The Road to Financial Inclusion
Financial inclusion is a topic that has been on the radar for many financial institutions, fintech companies, and policymakers worldwide. That’s because even now, there are still large portions of the population that don’t have access to basic financial services and products.
According to the World Health Organization, 2.2 billion people have near or distant visual impairment. This group not only faces unique struggles when it comes to paying with their credit card at POS terminals, but are also more likely to become victims of fraud. Citizens is the first U.S. issuer to offer their cards with a notched edge, to help customers identify their cards solely by touch. A different notch identifies each account type: round for debit, square for credit, and a triangle for prepaid.
“As inclusion is core to Mastercard’s philosophy and business, the team looks forward to scaling touch card to add independence and secure ways to pay whenever and wherever with the right card,” said Julie Schanzer, Executive VP of Financial Institutions, North America at Mastercard, in a prepared statement.
