Verifone recently announced the introduction of Navigator, the first-of-its-kind payment feature with a fully integrated touchscreen to earn certification for accessibility and usability by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
Navigator meets PCI requirements, an information security standard mandated and administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council to reduce credit card fraud.
Merchants around the world face accessibility and inclusivity challenges to ensure that payment hardware and software can be easily utilized by all consumers. For blind and visually impaired consumers payment transactions present a unique challenge, particularly as payment devices continue to increasingly evolve toward touchscreens.
“The change to touchscreen technology from the physical PIN pad is likely to be a difficult one for many blind and partially sighted people,” said David Clarke, Director of Services at RNIB. “But the change is coming, so we’re pleased to be working with Verifone to make sure that new payment hardware and software in the form of Navigator is accessible and usable for the millions of people living with sight loss worldwide. After rigorous testing, we are delighted to certify Navigator’s use by businesses that want to improve the experience for the blind and partially sighted community.”
How Navigator Works
Navigator enables merchants to transform the non-tactile touchscreen into a universal keypad with audio confirmation, so visually impaired consumers can enter a PIN or other numerical data to easily make purchases.
“Secure payment is and always will be a universal concern for merchants and consumers alike. It is a constant that will remain even as the touchscreen trend overtakes the payment experience,” said James Wester, Research Director for IDC. “Unfortunately, some merchants will use a plastic overlay with raised numbers that temporarily sits on top of touchscreen devices allowing the visually impaired to input their PIN. That not only fails to deliver an elegant touchscreen experience, it is not secure and can lead to cases of skimming.”
Navigator is PCI PTS 5.x approved and will initially be available throughout North America and Brazil. The first-of-its-kind software is available now on Verifone’s Carbon 10, a countertop or portable point-of-sale device that features merchant and customer facing tablets for optimal business management and customer interaction.
“We are proud to have taken the leadership position in developing Navigator, which we are offering up as an industry standard, applied to payment devices and other, everyday touchscreen technologies like ATMs and kiosks,” said Joe Mach, president of the Americas, Verifone. “Verifone is committed to creating a better, more secure and inclusive payment experience for merchants and consumers around the world.”
