5th disability-friendly ATM opens at GDRFAD

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

DUBAI: People with disabilities like visual impairment, mobility difficulties have rejoiced in the newly installed disability-friendly automated teller machine (ATM) in Dubai as a group of people of determination attended the inaugural ceremony on Tuesday.

The initiative was taken  by Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) as part of its corporate social responsibility towards the community to install a disability-friendly automated teller machine (ATM) in the premises of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFAD).

The newly installed ATM aimed to benefit the people of determination in collaboration with the GDRFAD which has around two dozen employees of determination while the premises with a wide range of services have been visited by a large number of visitors including people of determination.

“The ATM initiative is in line with the national policy to empower stakeholders and to implement the generous initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council,” said Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri.

Talking to Gulf Today, Waleed Alamoudi, VP-Head of Digital Banking, Retail Banking Group Sharjah Islamic Bank said that the wide range of services embedded in the newly installed ATM will cater specifically towards people who are blind and visually impaired.

The ceremony was attended by Major General Mohammed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, Major General Obaid Muhair Bin Sorour and Assistant Directors, Jassim Al Balushi, Director of Corporate Excellence at the Bank, and Walid Al Amoudi, VP-Head of Digital Banking, Retail Banking Group Sharjah Islamic Bank.

Mohammed Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sharjah Islamic Bank, said: “Through this service, we look forward to contributing to the empowerment of wheelchair users and the provision of supporting technologies that enhance their independence and enable them to use banking services with confidence and ease for all segments of the society.”

“The initiative to install disability-friendly automated teller machine (ATM) started in 2017 from Sharjah Club and so far a total of five such machines have been in operation to provide a number of banking services with the assistance of voice command, different languages options, security as well as keeping the privacy on top of the priority,” he said. He further said that these types of machines are unique and special design to incorporate all the digital services in one place and to cater the needs of people of determination with different disabilities for example this machine is designed to help people with visual impairment and mobility issues.

“Our objective is to provide our banking services to all the people of the community through the innovative means and we will expand our experience not only in the UAE but other Gulf countries as well,” he added. Responding to a question regarding the response in the last two years, he said that they have been monitoring the accessibility of these ATMs by people of determination and received tremendous response and today we are experiencing the happiness on the faced if a group of people of determination who were invited to inaugurate the new machine.

The services at the newly installed ATM offers four basic services to suit the requirements of the people of determination, like cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, mini account statement, PIN change, voice service as well as all normal money exchange services as well as withdrawal cash and pay utility bills, donations, and others.

In a related development the Ministry of Community Development (MoCD) has said that it will participate in UAE Careers 2019 being held in Dubai till March 21 through its recruitment platform to empower the people of determination and enable them find suitable job and training opportunities.

Wafa Hamad Bin Sulaiman, Director of Welfare & Rehabilitation Department for People of Determination at the Ministry of Community Development, stated that the UAE Careers 2019 will provide opportunities for the people of determination job seekers.