Suez Canal Bank Achieves a Breakthrough in Banking Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Suez Canal Bank has successfully achieved an unprecedented breakthrough in facilitating access to financial products and services for persons with disabilities, in accordance with the directives of the President of the Republic to facilitate services for this group, particularly in the realm of banking services and products.

This initiative aligns with CBE's commitment, encompassing infrastructure development, technological and digital solutions, human resource training, and internal process adjustments to serve this demographic while ensuring the confidentiality of financial transactions.

This endeavor is in line with CBE's September 2021 directives aimed at easing access to banking services and products for individuals with disabilities as part of the financial inclusion goals, in line with Egypt's Vision 2030.

In light of this, Suez Canal Bank has prepared 10% of its existing branches with effective structural modifications, providing dedicated pathways, signs, and equipment to facilitate customers with disabilities when interacting with the bank.

Consideration has been given to applying the Egyptian engineering code for designing external spaces and buildings to cater to the needs of individuals with disabilities, including the provision of ramps, road and pathway design, signage, restroom facilities, and other measures to be incorporated in the construction of new branches throughout the Republic's governorates.

To further emphasize its commitment to people with disabilities, Suez Canal Bank has prioritized them in branch waiting lists, ensuring that they receive financial services without any inconvenience or delay when visiting any of our branches nationwide.

The bank has also invested in training specialized banking personnel, with over 100 customer service employees fluent in sign language, enabling them to provide and explain banking services to individuals with disabilities.

In addition, the bank has prepared printed materials in Braille containing all the terms and conditions related to retail banking products. Furthermore, a video with sign language interpretation has been developed to present the terms and conditions of banking products on screens in all branches, on the bank's website, and on its social media platforms.

Suez Canal Bank has equipped and modified more than 25% of its ATMs to have appropriate lighting and clear instructions to assist individuals with disabilities in conducting their daily financial transactions.

The bank has also updated procedures and systems to accept stamps and fingerprints as alternatives to signatures for all internal bank procedures. These enhancements represent an unprecedented success in providing banking services to persons with disabilities, both within Suez Canal Bank specifically and within the banking sector as a whole.

These efforts are part of the ongoing digital transformation and financial inclusion initiatives within the retail banking sector, aiming to serve all segments of society with fairness and transparency.