Access for Deaf Customers in Banking: What the LSB Report Means for Financial Services

Introduction

The Lending Standards Board (LSB) has published a report, Access for deaf customers in banking and credit, highlighting the barriers people who are deaf or have a hearing loss continue to face when accessing financial services.

The report is designed to support banks and credit providers to improve accessibility and deliver more inclusive customer experiences. As the main self-regulatory body for the UK banking sector, the LSB plays a key role in shaping good practice alongside statutory regulation.

Bringing together lived experience, industry insight, and practical recommendations, this report presents a clear opportunity for meaningful and lasting change across financial services.

https://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/resources/access-for-d-deaf-customers-in-banking-credit/

Why This Report Matters

Despite progress in recent years, many deaf customers still encounter significant barriers when interacting with banks and credit providers. These barriers often result in delays, reliance on third parties, and customer experiences that fall far short of equality.

The report was launched at an event hosted by Nationwide Building Society and attended by more than 100 people from across financial services and the deaf community. The strong attendance reflected both the scale of the issue and a growing appetite across the sector to improve access.

At its core, the report aims to:

• Raise standards across banking and credit services
• Centre lived experience in service design
• Support organisations to move from reactive adjustments to inclusive design

For financial institutions, this is not just about accessibility. It is about trust, dignity, and delivering fair outcomes for all customers.

How This Work Began

The work behind the report has been shaped by long-standing leadership and advocacy within the banking sector.

Kathryn Townsend, Head of Customer Vulnerability at Nationwide Building Society, began this journey while previously leading accessibility initiatives at Barclays. In 2015, under her leadership, Barclays became the first UK bank to introduce Video Relay Services, enabling deaf customers to contact customer services using British Sign Language.

This marked a significant shift in access for deaf customers and set a precedent that other banks later followed.

Kathryn went on to become a Disability and Access Ambassador for the banking sector, a role held by senior leaders who champion improvements in accessibility and service quality for disabled customers.

Listening to Lived Experience

In late 2022, industry leaders, deaf consumers, and subject matter experts came together at a roundtable event focused on improving access for deaf customers in financial services.

The discussion surfaced persistent challenges and highlighted where systems and processes were still failing deaf customers. Representatives from major UK banks, the LSB, and UK Finance took part, ensuring both lived experience and organisational perspectives were heard.

Anna Roughley, Head of Insight at the LSB, attended the session. Hearing directly about these experiences led to further research commissioned by the LSB and led by Anna alongside Emma Lovell, Chief Executive of the LSB.

The result was this report, firmly grounded in lived experience and focused on raising standards across the sector.

Key Findings and Areas for Improvement

The report identifies several critical insights that organisations should take seriously, including:

• Low complaint volumes from deaf customers do not reflect the scale of access barriers they face
• Deaf customers have varied needs and require tailored, individualised support
• Many deaf customers feel forced to rely on third parties because direct communication is inaccessible
• Reliance on third parties increases exposure to fraud and scams
• Staff awareness and understanding of deaf access needs remain inconsistent
• Deaf customers often experience longer waiting times due to limited availability of BSL interpreting
• Appointing internal champions with lived experience can help drive informed change
• While induction loops are common in branches, BSL access is far less consistently available in person or remotely

These findings show that progress has been uneven. Too often, accessibility relies on workarounds rather than services designed inclusively from the outset.

The Human Impact

One of the most powerful aspects of the report is the inclusion of lived experience, for which there are many examples of how deaf people experiences barriers when engaging with financial services.

As contributor Lesley-Anne Harris shared:

“I feel like banks treat us like second-class citizens. We’re almost like an afterthought.”

This highlights a recurring theme throughout the research. Access barriers are not minor inconveniences. They directly affect dignity, independence, confidence, and trust in essential financial services.

Final Thoughts

Accessibility and inclusion are closely linked, but they are not the same. Accessibility is often the starting point. Inclusion is the goal.

By moving beyond add on solutions and considering how deaf customers and employees experience services from start to finish, organisations can create interactions that feel fair, empowering, and consistent.

Inclusion is not about special treatment. It is about designing services where everyone can participate fully and leave feeling equally valued.