News

Emirate launches Middle East's first ATM for visually impaired

July 6, 2012

The first ATM equipped for the visually-impaired in the Middle East went online this week in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The ATM was deployed by Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) and located at the Emirates Association for the Blind in Mueillah, near University City, Sharjah, according to an article by Gulf News.

SIB CEO Mohammad Abdullah told Gulf News that the bank started looking into the deployment after a well known visually impaired attorney called into a radio program to complain that banks in the Emirate did not offer facilities for the blind.

The newly installed ATM has a Braille keypad, a high resolution screen and a voice assisted interface with headphone capability for greater privacy. The machine also has three security cameras instead of just the one that most ATMs have.

SIB worked on the deployment with Computer Network Systems (CNS), Wincor Nixdorf’s agent in the UAE. This is their second collaboration on ATMs for the disabled. Previously the two had worked together to install a wheelchair-accessible ATM.

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