ShareKUWAIT: Reflecting its dedication to delivering on its social responsibility towards all segments, particularly people with special needs, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized an awareness seminar on banking transactions and methods of communication with people with hearing disabilities, in cooperation with the Kuwait Sports Club for the Deaf (KSCD) – Girls, which is the first of its kind in Kuwait.
The seminar attended by 20 KSCD members, aimed to promote financial literacy among participants and to familiarize them with the methods and types of banking transactions, and the paperwork required for these transactions. This included the steps to be taken in the event of a lost bank card, financial transactions made by a relative on behalf of special needs customers under special power of attorney, in addition to account opening/closing procedures, and how to communicate with customer service, as well as other banking transactions.
The seminar was attended by Ghadeer Al-Awadhi, AGM - Consumer Banking Group at NBK and Ali Al-Mulla, AGM - Head of Domestic Branches, Consumer Banking Group at NBK. On this occasion, Emad Al-Ablani, GM – head of Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said, “NBK is always keen on delivering on its social responsibilities by extending support to all segments of society, particularly people with special needs. In this context, we always strive to provide them with all services to serve their needs, which we identify through direct communication with them, and cooperation with the concerned government and civil society organizations.”
“At NBK, we firmly believe in providing equal opportunities for all segments of society. So today, we are proud to host the cherished special needs segment to drive their knowledge acquisition, regarding this a national duty and unshakable commitment,” he added. “NBK believes in the potential of every individual in our society, and the need to provide them with the due support for learning and development. Reflecting this belief, we have a policy for recruiting certain categories of special needs people, in cooperation with the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs (PADA) and the Public Authority of Manpower (PAM),” he noted.
NBK is the first bank to assign sign language trained staff in all branches to serve hearing-impaired customers. It has dedicated branches equipped with the latest services to accommodate and facilitate banking for customers with visual, hearing or physical disabilities, maintaining the following practices to cater to special needs: ATMs equipped with Braille keyboards and headphones, enabling visually impaired customers to make easy and secure withdrawals, Braille printing facilities, iPads with speech-to-text functionality for visually impaired customers, wheelchair access to branches (available in all branches), and reserved, clearly marked parking spaces for special needs customers. Moreover, the bank provides easily accessible safe deposit boxes, debit and credit cards with photo for easy identification, when requested.
