The Fintech Accessibility Crisis: How Nigeria's Banking Apps Lock Out Blind Entrepreneurs

Promise Okoro
Jul 6
12 min read

Alt text: Banking app screen with low-contrast text, a barely visible error message, and unlabeled icon buttons, surrounded by cluttered overlapping notification pop-ups, illustrating poor accessibility design.

^Introduction

“With the advent of technology, everyone else is enjoying seamless banking services except the blind. We have repeatedly urged banks, including the major ones, to invest in technology that protects our accounts and enables independent transactions, but to no avail.”

These were the painful words of Olurotimi Olubodede, a visually impaired Nigerian Ph.D. student at Nasarawa State University. His words are read. They are never answered. For Olubodede and millions of blind Nigerians like him, the promise of Nigeria's fintech revolution rings hollow. While the country celebrates its status as Africa's fintech powerhouse, home to eight of the continent's nine unicorns, a significant portion of its population remains locked out of the digital banking ecosystem that has become essential to economic survival. ¹²

Nigeria's fintech sector is booming. By mid 2025, leading fintech apps had surpassed 10 million downloads each, with one surpassing 50 million. Digital payment platforms like OPay process over $12 billion in monthly transactions, while Moniepoint handles more than 1 billion transactions monthly with a total payment volume exceeding $22 billion. An estimated 82.1 million Nigerians are projected to use digital payment services by 2028. For small and medium-sized enterprises, fintech has become the lifeline, 50% of Nigerian SMEs ( Small and medium enterprises) now rely on fintech platforms for their core business banking needs. ²³⁴¹

Yet beneath this impressive growth lies a crisis of exclusion. For Nigeria's estimated 35.1 million persons living with disabilities, particularly the blind and visually impaired, the digital banking revolution has new barriers, not opportunities. This article examines how Nigeria's banking apps systematically exclude blind entrepreneurs, the lived experiences of those locked out, and the urgent need for accessibility standards in Africa's most vibrant fintech ecosystem. ⁵

The Digital Banking Promise That Never Arrived

Nigeria's transition to digital banking was supposed to democratize financial services. Gone were the days of long queues at bank branches, discriminatory customer service, and tedious paperwork. Mobile banking apps promised independence, speed, and convenience for all Nigerians, or so the narrative went.

For blind entrepreneurs like Olayinka Akinbiyi, who runs a business using her iPhone, the reality has been starkly different. "Zenith updated the app, and it became inaccessible. I cannot do anything on that app. I have uninstalled it," she lamented. What was meant to empower her instead stripped away her financial independence. ⁵

The exclusion is not limited to a single app or bank. It is systemic. A survey conducted by the Association for the Blind in Nigeria across 10 leading Nigerian banks found that most of the banks' mobile apps are unusable for blind users. Screen readers, an assistive technology that converts on-screen text to speech, often fail to interpret more than basic elements. Buttons are unlabeled. Biometric verification requires sighted assistance. Time-sensitive USSD banking menus expire before a blind user can input responses. The infrastructure of convenience for the majority has become an architecture of exclusion for persons with visual impairments. ⁶ ⁷

"You Don't Know What to Press. You Just Guess."

To understand the depth of this crisis, we must listen to the voices of those experiencing it daily. Their testimonies reveal not just technical failures, but a broader societal dismissal of their existence.

Vivian, a blind professional who requested anonymity, uses her phone for almost everything, except her bank's app. "I can do almost anything on my phone," she said. "But the question is, will the app let me? Most bank apps are not built with us in mind." When she opens her banking app and activates her screen reader, the interface becomes incomprehensible. "Most apps don't work with my screen reader. Buttons are just 'button, button, button.' You don't know what to press. You just guess. And if you guess wrong, you're logged out."

The experience, she explained, is not merely frustrating; it is dehumanizing. "It feels like the system is saying, 'You're not supposed to be here'". ⁶

Jumoke Phillips-Oga, a single mother in Ibadan, Oyo State, echoes this sentiment. She downloaded a mobile banking app from one of Nigeria's new generation banks to avoid the charges from Point-of-Sale operators. But the app proved unusable. "I don't have the energy for the problems with this app. So, I simply wait for my nephew to come and help me make these transfers. I can use my phone comfortably without stress, but these bank applications are the absolute worst. It's like the developers didn't consider the fact that blind people also have bank accounts and may need to use these applications for transactions. " ⁶

For Jumoke and Vivian, financial independence has become financial dependency. Every transaction requires waiting for a family member, surrendering control over their own money, and accepting that the digital revolution has passed them by.

When Entrepreneurship Meets Inaccessibility

The consequences of inaccessible fintech are particularly devastating for blind entrepreneurs who rely on digital banking to run their businesses. In Nigeria, less than 1% of persons with disabilities work in the formal sector. Entrepreneurship, therefore, represents one of the few pathways to economic independence for this population. Yet the very tools meant to facilitate business transactions have become barriers to entry.⁸

Bukola Ogunsanya has managed her confectionery business in Lagos for more than 10 years. With the rise of fintech in Nigeria, she understood that almost all transactions now require a swipe of an ATM card on a POS terminal. She appreciated the independence that payment technologies bring and the financial inclusion they promise. So when she attempted to get an ATM card at Polaris Bank in early 2024, she expected a straightforward process. Instead, she was denied. Her visual impairment, the bank suggested, made her ineligible. ⁹

Her experience was not random. Investigations revealed a disturbing pattern across Nigerian banks. At First Bank, blind customers seeking ATM cards were required to sign indemnity forms appointing someone else to operate the ATM on their behalf, a requirement not imposed on other customers. Lukman Salami, Chairman of the Nigerian Association of the Blind, encountered this same policy when renewing his ATM card at a First Bank branch at the University of Lagos. He questioned the logic: "It's not about our inability. It's about the bank's failure to innovate. ". ⁷⁹

Yet innovation is precisely what Nigeria's fintech sector claims to deliver. Moniepoint serves more than 10 million businesses and individuals, processing payments worth over $22 billion monthly. PalmPay boasts 35 million registered users and processes up to 15 million transactions daily. These platforms have succeeded in reaching the unbanked, expanding financial access to Nigeria's most remote corners. But they have systematically failed to reach the blind. ² The irony is bitter. While fintech platforms market themselves as champions of financial inclusion, they have replicated, and in some cases worsened, the exclusion that characterized traditional banking.

The Technical Barriers: A Catalogue of Exclusion

The accessibility failures in Nigeria's banking apps are not superficial design flaws. They represent fundamental technical deficiencies that render entire platforms unusable for blind users. During an experiment conducted by a correspondent using three blind respondents, the banking apps of two tier-one banks offered only partial accessibility. Some functions were readable, but others, such as selecting a beneficiary outside one's bank, were impossible without sighted assistance. ⁶

Unlabeled Buttons and Missing ARIA Roles

Screen readers work by reading aloud the text labels attached to visual elements. When developers fail to properly label buttons or assign ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes, the screen reader encounters blank spaces. Blind users hear "button, button, button" with no clue of what each button does. Without this metadata, even simple tasks like transferring money become guessing games fraught with risk. Press the wrong button, and you might be logged out, or worse, authorize an unintended transaction. ¹⁰⁶

Biometric Verification and Visual CAPTCHAs

Many platforms have adopted selfies, retina scans, and image-based CAPTCHA as security measures. For sighted users, these are minor inconveniences. For blind users, they are dead ends. One user reported that a fintech app prompted him to "open his eyes" during facial verification, an impossible request for someone who can only open one eye. There are alternative authentication methods, such as voice recognition, fingerprint scanning, or one-time passwords, but most Nigerian fintech apps have not implemented them. The result is that blind users cannot complete account setup independently.¹¹

USSD Banking: Timed Out Before You Begin

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) banking, often cited as an alternative for those without smartphones, is far from a solution for blind users. These menus frequently time out before a blind user can input responses. In many cases, screen reader software conflicts with USSD inputs, forcing users to disable their assistive technology mid-session, defeating the entire purpose of the tool. ⁷ ⁶

Adeola Aina, Vice Chairman of the Association for the Blind in Nigeria, described the nightmare: "USSD banking services pose serious difficulties. The service's time constraints and non-speech-enabled token systems are particularly problematic, requiring us to pay for alternative token services that still don't offer independence".¹²

No Audio Cues, No Confirmation, No Certainty

Unlike more inclusive banking systems abroad, Nigerian apps rarely provide verbal confirmations for key actions. The success or failure of a financial transaction is indicated by visual cues alone. This leaves blind users in a constant state of uncertainty.

The absence of customization options compounds the problem. Apps fail to offer basic features that would benefit not only blind users but also those with low vision or elderly users such as adjustable font sizes, high-contrast modes, or text-zoom capabilities and features.

Unresponsive Customer Support

When blind users seek help, they encounter yet another barrier: ignorance. Many customer service agents across Nigerian banks are unaware of their apps' accessibility features, or lack thereof. Requests for assistance are frequently mishandled or ignored altogether. A customer service representative with a tier-two bank admitted that he was unaware of these issues. The result is that blind customers feel invisible, with their needs ignored, and their complaints unresolved.⁶

Trust's experience encapsulates this frustration. "I've reached out to some of these apps. I've been calling out one on X for months. They read my tweets but never respond". His question cuts to the heart of the matter: "Did they not consider the blind when building these apps, or are they deliberately locking us out of the digital financial space because we can't see?". ⁶

The Economic Cost of Exclusion

Every unlabeled button and every failed registration is not merely an inconvenience; it is financial isolation. When blind entrepreneurs cannot access banking apps independently, they cannot run their businesses efficiently. They cannot check account balances, reconcile transactions, or respond quickly to payment requests. In an economy where speed and agility determine survival, inaccessibility is a death sentence for entrepreneurship.

The global economic implications are staggering. The Central Bank of Nigeria, citing World Bank estimates, reported that financial exclusion of persons with disabilities results in annual global GDP losses ranging from $1.71 trillion to $2.23 trillion. In a country where 35.1 million people live with disabilities, the economic exclusion of this population represents a massive loss of productive potential. ¹³

Rare Exceptions to Nigeria's General Fintech Inaccessibility

Not all fintech platforms have failed blind users. OPay, one of Nigeria's largest fintech companies with over 50 million users and 10 million daily active trading users, has been noted as a rare exception. Joseph Afolabi confirmed that OPay enabled independent setup for blind users through screen reader integration. This proves that accessible design is not only possible, but it is achievable within Nigeria's fintech ecosystem.² ⁵

Similarly, Ecobank has committed to equipping all its ATMs nationwide with voice prompts to enable visually impaired customers to carry out transactions seamlessly. These examples demonstrate that when institutions prioritize accessibility, technical barriers can be overcome. ¹

Even more encouraging, UBA published a formal accessibility statement in June 2025, committing to WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance and working toward WCAG 2.2 Level AAA standards. The bank involves a certified accessibility professional on its web team and conducts regular audits with assistive technologies and disabled users. UBA stands as the only Nigerian bank with a formal public accessibility commitment, a stark reminder of how far the sector still has to go. ¹⁷

Building an Accessible Fintech Future

The solution to Nigeria's fintech accessibility crisis is not complex. It does not require revolutionary technology or prohibitive costs. What it requires is intentionality, a deliberate commitment to inclusive design from the very beginning of product development. Nigeria’s Fintech companies must take these practical steps to enhance accessibility across their platforms

Involve Blind Users in Development

One of the most effective solutions is also the simplest: involve blind, tech-savvy individuals in the development teams that build these applications. During product simulation, if a blind team member cannot use the app, adjustments can be made early, before the app is released to the public.

Nigeria already has blind tech professionals capable of leading this work. Victor Ekwueme, a blind software developer and data scientist, holds degrees in computer science and intelligent computational systems. Despite losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa, he won the Apps4Africa hackathon in 2011 and now works as an Odoo specialist and data scientist at Chams. Ekwueme trains visually impaired individuals in data analytics through AccessTech Innovation and Research Center, proving that blind Nigerians are not just capable users, they are innovators. ¹⁷¹⁸

Implement WCAG Standards

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provide clear, actionable standards for making digital content accessible. These guidelines are based on four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Achieving WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, the global standard for accessibility, is not prohibitively expensive. It simply requires that accessibility be integrated into the design process from the start, rather than retrofitted as an afterthought.

Nigerian fintech companies can learn from global best practices. Bank of America's voice-enabled assistant, Erica, helps visually impaired users check balances and transfer money through voice commands. PayPal has made its platform screen-reader-friendly, allowing users to read statements and complete transactions smoothly. These features are not exclusive to developed markets; they are replicable in Nigeria as well. ¹⁹

Alternative Authentication Methods

Biometric verification does not have to be visual. Fingerprint scanning, voice recognition, and one-time passwords sent via SMS are all viable alternatives that allow blind users to verify their identity independently. OPay's success in enabling independent setup for blind users through screen reader integration demonstrates that these alternatives work.⁵

Audio Feedback for Transactions

Every critical action, transferring money, paying a bill, or purchasing airtime, should trigger an audio confirmation. This simple feature would eliminate the uncertainty blind users currently face and provide the same transactional confidence that sighted users take for granted.

Train Customer Service Staff

Customer service agents must be trained to understand accessibility features and respond effectively to requests from blind users. Ignorance is not an excuse; it is a failure of institutional responsibility. Banks and fintech companies must ensure that their frontline staff can assist customers with disabilities, whether that means walking them through accessible features or escalating unresolved issues to technical teams.

A Call for Urgent Action

Nigeria's fintech revolution is incomplete. It has brought convenience to millions, expanded financial access to the unbanked, and positioned the country as Africa's digital banking leader. But until blind entrepreneurs can independently set up accounts, check balances, transfer funds, and run their businesses without sighted assistance, the promise of financial inclusion remains unfulfilled.

The exclusion of blind Nigerians from digital banking is beyond just a technical issue; it is also a violation of human rights.

The tools to fix this crisis already exist. WCAG guidelines provide clear standards. OPay and Ecobank have demonstrated that accessible design is achievable. Blind tech professionals like Victor Ekwueme stand ready to contribute their expertise. What is missing is not capability, it is commitment.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, which has championed a 95% financial inclusion target, must enforce the 2018 Disabilities Act and hold fintech companies accountable. Fintech platforms that claim to democratize finance must prove it by making their apps accessible to all Nigerians, not just the sighted majority. Civil society organizations and disability advocates must continue to push for enforcement, transparency, and real change. ²⁰

Conclusion

Accessibility is not charity. It is not an act of kindness. It is a right that ensures everyone can transact, work, and thrive independently, regardless of ability. Nigeria's fintech sector has the resources, the talent, and the technology to build inclusive banking platforms. What remains to be seen is whether it has the will.

Until then, millions of blind Nigerians will remain locked out, not because they lack the ability to bank digitally, but because the apps designed to serve them refuse to see them. The time for action is now. Prolonged exclusion is costly-for blind entrepreneurs, Nigeria's economy and for the integrity of the fintech revolution itself.

The Fintech Accessibility Crisis: How Nigeria's Banking Apps Lock Out Blind Entrepreneurs

^Introduction

The Digital Banking Promise That Never Arrived

"You Don't Know What to Press. You Just Guess."

When Entrepreneurship Meets Inaccessibility

The Technical Barriers: A Catalogue of Exclusion

Unlabeled Buttons and Missing ARIA Roles

Biometric Verification and Visual CAPTCHAs

USSD Banking: Timed Out Before You Begin

No Audio Cues, No Confirmation, No Certainty

Unresponsive Customer Support

The Economic Cost of Exclusion

Rare Exceptions to Nigeria's General Fintech Inaccessibility

Building an Accessible Fintech Future

Involve Blind Users in Development

Implement WCAG Standards

Alternative Authentication Methods

Audio Feedback for Transactions

Train Customer Service Staff

A Call for Urgent Action

Conclusion

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