What do you get when you take a roomful of extraordinary people from the disability and fintech communities and add an evening of powerful, inspiring stories, and a desire and hope to make real change in the world? Why, the launch of Project Nemo of course!

After being announced at the Innovate Global Finance Summit (IFGS) on 15 April 2024, the Project Nemo team has seen an unbelievable amount of support from the industry, culminating in a full house at their official launch event held at Barclays Rise – despite train strikes threatening to reign chaos on the evening. 

Project Nemo is a new disability inclusion initiative that is seeking to accelerate disability inclusion journeys across the fintech world over the next 12 months. Led by Joanne Dewar, former payments CEO at GPS (now Thredd), the team have worked tirelessly for months to get the project off the ground and start advocating for disability inclusion within the sector.

Dewar said: “More than one in five of the population has some form of disability so nearly every household is impacted in some way. And yet somehow it’s not something that we are thinking about, talking about and addressing in our industry. And that’s what I’m seeking to do – hold the mirror up to the industry and see what we can do about it.”

A crowd of supporters

Faces from all across the fintech world gathered together, with banks, trade bodies, consultancies and even an MP all represented in the fray. Joined by members of the disability community, Dewar took the lead in introducing an evening of personal stories and experiences. 

Championing accessibility through and through, Dewar began her speech by describing herself for anyone with visual impairments, and stood in front of a Google Meet presentation that captioned her words as she spoke them – showing how simple things can make all the difference when it comes to including everyone. 

She kicked off the evening explaining how the project came to be. She said: “The genesis of Project Nemo is really the relationship between myself and Kris Foster [a disability advocate and founding member of Project Nemo.] Kris joined the old GPS team two years ago, coming into an environment that was very tech and corporate. And yet he was able to make such an extraordinary difference to everybody in that organisation. He really made me think and realise just the value and contribution that anyone can make, and the absolute importance of having a very wide, diverse group of people in the business to make it come to life.

“So we’ve created this project to draw the expertise that exists out there. The lived experience of disability service leaders who can tell us what we need to know and what we need to do. It’s about bringing those people into the room of the fintech community, to spark those conversations.”

She continued: “It’s not about charity. It’s about learning from each other and creating a beautiful harmony of people in the working environment. 

“We want to get the conversation started and make it understood by not speaking or doing anything, we’re all being disadvantaged, both in our organisations and our futures.”

A room of inspiration

Dewar then opened to the floor, “sharing the mic” and calling on anyone who wanted to speak and share their story with the room. 

It was powerful, emotional and electric. Hearing from those with lived experience, be it their own or that of a loved one, and why this project matters to them was so impactful, and showed why Project Nemo needs to exist in the first place. 

Having the opportunity to amplify underheard voices cannot be understated. As Foster said: “When you think people speak for us, about us or in front of us and it’s never our voice. Today I can turn around and say that’s not true – this is our voice.”

Barriers and Bias

The attendees were quick to hold their hands up and speak, sharing their stories and why they were there. We heard from Shani Dhanda, disability activist and voted Britain’s most influential person with a disability in 2023, who took to the mic to remind everyone of the importance of having these conversations.

She said: “People aren’t usually disabled by their condition, it’s the barriers and the bias that we face that really disable us. And we all contribute to that in many different ways. By default, we’re pretty exclusionary people. 

“Another thing to know is, when you think about disability, people can either be born with or acquire conditions and impairments, and the majority of disabled people were not born with their condition – they acquired it. 

“So if you aren’t part of the disability community today, then you’re going to be one day. And I’m not saying that to scare you, it’s just the reality. We as a society don’t design for our future selves.

“My question to everybody is: what side of the coin do you want to be on? Do you want to be on the inclusionary side or the exclusionary side? You can be an ally, the bridge between a marginalised community and you can make their voice travel further… that is the power of allyship.”

Working together

If you were looking for a reason to get behind disability and inclusion, beyond it being the right thing to do, then plenty were discussed over the course of the evening. Expanding the talent pool, different perspectives and even increased revenue were all given as bonus points to consider the disability community when thinking about operations as a fintech company.

“I’d love to see the fintech industry having a baseline where inclusion and disability inclusion is included within agendas when it comes to policies,” said Nadia Edwards-Dashti, chief customer officer at Harrington Starr, a financial technology recruitment firm. 

“It’s not on many agendas, most haven’t even thought about disability as part of inclusion. So if we can get this onto agendas in the next 12 months, we’ll start to switch on to policies and accessibility within the workplace and truly think about the different experiences of people at work.”

Ticking a box

Suresh Vaghjiani, CEO of cloud-based issuer processing platform CLOWD9, said: “I think the problem with fintech looking at disability is that many people look at it as a tick box exercise. Many people think we need to be seen to be doing the right thing, but actually, the advantages that you can bring can outweigh many of the concerns people have. So it’s a big deal because fintech looks at things from a different perspective. 

“Fintech is a very inclusive product, It’s supposed to be services that ultimately level the playing field. But how can you level that field if the people who are developing these products and offering the services all come from the same background? If they all have the same perspective? You need to get people within the company who have different perspectives and different backgrounds to ultimately solve problems on a global scale. 

“I use this analogy: if you’re making a cake and you have all the same ingredients, everyone’s cake looks different but ultimately tastes the same. If you want to make something different, you need a mix of people to get those different perspectives. 

Adding to the conversation on talent, Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, gave a national context to the project, and how it can go beyond the fintech world.

She said: “In the UK workforce there’s been a hunt for talent – companies have to look harder than ever before for the talent they need. And what we’re talking about here with Project Nemo is helping talented people come into the workforce and get that opportunity that’s right for them with the right support. This could be really, really big.”

She continued: “I want to see Project Nemo go out from this launch and go out and recruit every organisation in fintech, and maybe even go beyond the industry. By making practical solutions to the problem of how we engage disabled people’s talent in the workforce, having products and services that are inclusive for all  – that’s the goal. I think in 12 months we’ll have taken great strides towards it.”

Changing the world

Getting to sit in on these conversations and learn more about how Project Nemo plans to change the world is truly humbling. The appetite for change is palpable, and it’s clear that the major players in the fintech industry feel the same and want to get on board. 

As Dewar said to conclude the evening: “We’ve all got the power to change how people experience the world. Why wouldn’t we use it?”

One month after Kuba introduced open-loop payments across Tuscany’s bus network and Florence’s tramway, mobility payment specialist has hailed the move a success following strong passenger adoption.

Sunday 28 March saw the largest open-loop payments deployment on a European transit network; spanning across 273 cities and towns, including 13 major cities.

Now, local transport operator Autolinee Toscane (AT) has revealed that 400,000 passengers have used the system, and fare validators on vehicles have received around 650,000 ‘taps’ with bank cards and mobile wallets. A large proportion of these (60 per cent) are occasional passengers, with less than two taps in this period; and about 50 per cent of cards used on the system were issued abroad – highlighting its popularity among occasional riders and tourists.

Tommaso Rosa, head of marketing, and brand communication at AT, discussed the success: “As these figures show, contactless payment using a card or smartphone is proving popular, in particular with people who don’t ride our buses regularly and those visiting Tuscany from overseas. They don’t have to understand the ticketing system to hop on a bus and travel around cities, or from one city to another. With open payments on 1,000 lines, exploring our region by bus couldn’t be simpler.”

AT partnered with Kuba to implement the open-loop system. It is an extension of the account-based ticketing system deployed by Kuba in 2021 when AT took over the running of Tuscany’s bus network. Previously managed by 23 bus companies, the transition involved replacing eight ticketing systems with a single platform.

Promoting TipTap with Visa

Kuba installed over 6,000 cEMV-enabled validators on over 3,000 urban, suburban, and intercity buses and 40 trams, enabling passengers to use their bank card or mobile wallet as a travel ticket.

Fares are calculated in Kuba’s account-based ticketing back office, with contactless EMV fare payments processed by a specialist payment service provider, Littlepay.

Giuseppe Russotti, general manager of Kuba in Italy, also discussed the data: “It is a great honour to provide the technical solution for seamless payments on public transport across Tuscany. The scale of the project is like no other we’ve seen in Europe, and its successful delivery is a testament to great teamwork. We’re grateful for the collaboration with Autolinee Toscane and our partner Littlepay, which has led to a simpler way for travellers to make the most of this stunning region.”

To motivate using TipTap, AT also teamed up with Visa to launch an extensive consumer-facing marketing campaign. As well as raising awareness of the ease and convenience of open-loop fare payments, the campaign promoted Visa’s offer of free rides to passengers using the contactless system between 10 April 5 May.

Kuba’s Italian team, based in Rome, has handled the complex delivery of account-based ticketing and open-loop fare payments across Tuscany. Formerly known as Vix Italia, the company today announces it has become part of the Kuba Group. This strategic merger combines decades of experience in the Italian transport ticketing market with Kuba’s commitment to transforming account-based mobility payments.

Financial service providers from across the UK have joined forces with charities and accessibility organisations to support the launch of SigningBanks.uk, a new website aiming to improve the experience of deaf people when engaging with banks and lenders.

The new SigningBanks.uk website has launched in coordination with the first day of UK Deaf Awareness Week on 7 May and will provide resources and guides for deaf people and financial services firms, and will help deaf customers navigate banks’ accessibility support and highlight accessible financial advice helplines. All support on the site is available in both plain English and BSL.

SigningBanks.uk brings together over 20 partners from inside and outside the financial services sector, including Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Monzo, HSBC and Starling Bank. These firms will join forces to boost deaf accessibility by enhancing banking services, technology, and awareness.

With the support of the government disability ambassador for banking, Kathryn Townsend, and stakeholders from the deaf community, SigningBanks.uk is developing a new interface, bringing banking services together with their deaf customers.

Kathryn Townsend, head of customer vulnerability and accessibility at Nationwide, and the UK Government disability and access ambassador for banking, commented: “We believe in making banking accessible, inclusive and fairer for all, which is why we are delighted to be sponsoring the new SigningBanks.uk website.

“The ethos behind the website and the support and content it aims to provide means it will be a crucial resource in helping to achieve that ambition. Collaboration is key to ensuring that deaf customers have access to all the vital financial information they need, and so we are pleased to be working with the wider financial services industry on this new site.”

‘Everyone deserves seamless access to financial resources and services’

Approximately 12 million people in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss.

Last year, a Lending Standards Board (LSB) report explored the challenges that deaf people face when using banking services – which can include a lack of information or support in British Sign Language (BSL), or a low level of staff awareness about deaf peoples’ needs – and highlighted how these challenges can lead to poor customer service experiences or increased risks of financial vulnerability.

Breda Leyne, director of ESquared, the social enterprise behind SigningBanks UK, also discussed the importance of the initiative: “SigningBanks.uk is built on the belief that everyone, regardless of their hearing ability, deserves seamless access to financial resources and services. Through innovation, advocacy and collaboration, we are determined to bridge the gap between the financial sector and the deaf community.

“We will be working hard to promote the needs of deaf customers, share existing good practice and technological innovations, and highlight outstanding gaps in service provision.

“The financial services sector has made significant progress in the last 12 months on deaf accessibility, both in terms of recognising the challenges that deaf customers face and with more banks taking concrete steps to improve access. There is still much more progress to be made, and we’re excited for SigningBanks.uk to be part of that.

“The support offered by the site will grow over time and we would urge banks and lenders across the sector to get involved if they aren’t already.”

Following on from last year’s report by the LSB, Access for d/Deaf Customers in Banking & Credit, an updated report from the LSB, also published today, shows UK banks and lenders have made progress in offering better accessibility support to deaf customers.