07-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Bank Rakyat launches Mastercard Touch Card for visually impaired
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Rakyat has partnered with Mastercard to roll out the Touch Card feature across select cards, marking a major step forward in financial accessibility for visually impaired individuals in Malaysia.
This move also makes Bank Rakyat the first Islamic bank in the country to offer this inclusive card solution.
The Mastercard Touch Card is uniquely designed with tactile notches on the side of the card to help blind and partially sighted individuals easily distinguish between debit, credit, and prepaid cards.
A rounded notch represents debit cards, a square notch indicates credit cards, and a triangular notch signifies prepaid cards. This feature also helps ensure the card is correctly orientated when used at ATMs or payment terminals.
Bank Rakyat's chief executive officer, Ahmad Shahril Mohd Shariff, said the introduction of the Touch Card reflects the bank's commitment to enhancing banking experiences for all Malaysians, including those with visual impairments.
"Financial services should be inclusive and accessible to everyone. Through our collaboration with PERTIS and Mastercard, we have integrated the Touch Card feature into selected card offerings to meet the specific needs of the visually impaired community, going beyond compliance to deliver solutions that genuinely improve everyday banking," he said in a statement.
As part of the initial rollout in April 2025, the Touch Card feature has been implemented in two card portfolios: the Bank Rakyat Muslimah Credit Card-i, featuring a square notch, and the Bank Rakyat Debit Card-i, with a rounded notch.
This initiative follows consultations with the Persatuan Orang-Orang Cacat Penglihatan Islam Malaysia (PERTIS), which provided insights into the daily challenges faced by the visually impaired when using bank cards—especially with the shift towards flat card designs that lack embossed text.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, nearly 64,000 people in the country are visually impaired. Globally, the World Health Organisation estimates over 2.2 billion people live with visual impairments.
Mastercard Malaysia and Brunei country manager Beena Pothen said the collaboration is part of Mastercard's broader goal of building a more inclusive digital economy.
"The integration of Mastercard's Touch Card design with Bank Rakyat, the first Islamic bank in Malaysia to adopt this feature, reflects Mastercard's dedication to working with like-minded partners globally to enhance accessibility and inclusivity.
"Today, Mastercard is excited to put this simple but very meaningful design solution at the fingertips of Malaysians," he said.
