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Good practice Imported

BancoEstado's Audible ATM Network for Blind and Visually Impaired Customers

Chile · Santiago · See the Chile profile · See the Santiago profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 61% 68/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Chile's state bank BancoEstado equipped 665 ATMs (30% of its network) with audio-guided menus so blind and low-vision customers can withdraw cash and check balances independently, launched with disability agency Senadis in 2021.

665
ATMs retrofitted with audio guidance (end 2021)
~30 %
Share of ATM network retrofitted (end 2021)
BancoEstado's Audible ATM Network for Blind and Visually Impaired Customers

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
BancoEstado (with Senadis)
Period
2021-present
Keywords
banking, financial inclusion, disability, accessibility

Context

BancoEstado, Chile's state-owned bank, launched a national network of 'cajeros automaticos audibles' (audible ATMs) in October 2021 in partnership with Senadis, Chile's National Disability Service, to let blind and low-vision customers withdraw cash, check balances, and complete standard transactions independently.

Activities

The service uses voice guidance through the standard numeric keypad and headphone jack, without needing sighted assistance. The launch was framed within Chile's Law No. 20.422 on equal opportunity and social inclusion for people with disabilities, which requires progressive accessibility improvements to public-facing services.

Results

By the end of 2021, 665 of BancoEstado's ATMs -- about 30% of its total network -- had been retrofitted with the audio-guidance feature.

Conclusions

No independently verified figure for later years' coverage was found, and a separate 2026 Chilean court case ordered a bank to make its mobile banking app accessible to blind users, indicating that while physical ATM accessibility has advanced, accessibility gaps in digital banking channels remain an active, unresolved issue.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Cost of retrofitting 665 ATMs not disclosed.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Launched October 2021; 30% network coverage by end of 2021.
Staffing & skills
BancoEstado ATM engineering team, Senadis (National Disability Service) partnership staff

Conditions for success

  • retrofit approach using standard keypad/headphone jack rather than new hardware
  • a statutory accessibility mandate (Law 20.422) providing legal backing

Common failure modes

  • no verified coverage figures published for years after 2021
  • digital banking channels (apps) remain an unresolved accessibility gap

Where it fits

Governance type
state-owned bank + national disability service
Scale
national
Income level
high income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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