National Bank of Serbia issues recommendation on how banks should serve blind and visually impaired customers

The National Bank of Serbia published a recommendation to banks on providing payment services and concluding banking contracts with blind and visually impaired persons, aiming to harmonise divergent bank practices while balancing easier access to services with safeguards against misuse and fraud. Following a review showing materially different approaches across banks, the recommendation asks banks to consider offering customers a choice of how they give consent for payment transactions and contracts, including handwritten signature (where possible), a handwritten imprint, or the use of a stamp with an engraved signature (facsimile) or personal identity data, where the bank’s risk assessment permits and subject to appropriate identification measures. The chosen consent method for payment transactions should be reflected in the payment services framework contract. Banks are also expected to allow legally capable blind and visually impaired persons to conclude contracts independently without requiring a proxy, and to ensure these customers are properly informed about document contents, including through alternatives to witnesses such as sound or audio-visual recordings with the customer’s consent and confirmation of familiarity with the content. Banks are encouraged to embed adopted solutions in internal acts, align staff practices across branches, and consider adapting digital services and technology solutions to improve accessibility. The publication also reiterates the complaint pathway under the Law on the Protection of Users of Financial Services, including escalation to the National Bank of Serbia if a customer is dissatisfied with the bank’s response or does not receive it within the prescribed deadline, provided court proceedings have not been initiated.