INDUSTRY · FINANCIAL SERVICES · BFSG · EAA · WCAG 2.2

Accessible online banking
– Trust begins with access.

Money is the most personal of all digital matters. Anyone who cannot check their account balance, make a bank transfer independently or complete a loan application without assistance loses more than just convenience – they lose their independence. For banks, insurance companies and FinTechs, digital accessibility is therefore not just a side issue of compliance, but a matter of customer trust. And it has been a legal requirement since June 2025. IFDB makes your banking services, application processes and customer portals verifiably accessible: tested with real users, backed by a robust certificate.

A financial adviser explains documents to a client during a consultation – accessible application processes and customer portals for banks and insurers in accordance with the BFSG
Digital stock market charts with price and candlestick displays – accessible data tables and banking applications for financial service providers in accordance with WCAG 2.2
Glass fronts of modern bank towers from a bird’s-eye view – digital accessibility for banks, fintechs and insurance companies in accordance with the BFSG and EN 301 549
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The invisible barriers between customers and their accounts

  • Hardly any other sector has shifted its processes to digital platforms as systematically as the financial sector. What is often overlooked in the process is the question of whether everyone is really keeping up. Four areas deserve particular attention.
  • Security that leads to a dead end.
    TAN procedures, CAPTCHAs and two-factor authentication protect the account – but can become an insurmountable barrier if they rely solely on visual or time-sensitive inputs. Ironically, it is the very security mechanism that then excludes legitimate customers.
  • Application ranges with built-in termination.
    Opening a bank account, applying for a loan, taking out insurance: long, multi-step forms with identity verification stages. Without clear error guidance, the process fails just before completion – and a qualified lead is lost.
  • Data tables that nobody can read out loud.
    Account statements, investment portfolio summaries, insurance terms and conditions: financial information relies on tables. Without proper markup, this becomes an incomprehensible jumble of numbers for a screen reader.
  • Contracts and policies in form of inaccessible PDFs.
    Bank statements, insurance policies, pre-contractual information – the financial sector is a document-heavy industry. Without a PDF/UA structure, legally relevant documents remain inaccessible to many customers.
Hands working with a pen, a calculator and financial documents next to a laptop – inaccessible application processes and data tables as an accessibility issue for banks and insurance companies under the BFSG and WCAG 2.2
A KEY ASPECT OF THE LAW

Why financial services are specifically mentioned in the BFSG

Porträtfoto von Lukas Maximilian Langer, Gründer und Leiter Audit & Zertifizierung der IFDB GmbH
Lukas Maximilian Langer

Founder | Head of Audit & Certification

It is no coincidence that the legislator has included the financial sector – it has been explicitly listed. Banking services for consumers are among the services explicitly mentioned in the Accessibility Strengthening Act. Anyone offering current accounts, loans, payment services or investment products digitally has been directly subject to these obligations since 28 June 2025.

Insurance companies fall within the scope of the regulation through the same mechanism as soon as they market their products to consumers as digital services. The technical standards are clear here too: WCAG 2.2 and EN 301 549.

What makes this sector particularly vulnerable is the sheer volume of regulation it faces. Financial firms operate under constant scrutiny anyway and are highly conscious of their reputation. A warning letter regarding a lack of accessibility affects not only the legal department but also the credibility of the brand – and in the financial sector, that is the most valuable asset.

OUR APPROACH TO FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

Four products for financial applications that anyone can operate

No two financial service providers are alike. An established bank with a branch network, online banking and custody account management has different priorities to a start-up FinTech company with a streamlined banking app. That is why we customise the Access Suite to your specific needs – from the initial overview right through to long-term, secure operation.

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Access Ready®

tests your banking and application workflows as part of an in-depth audit – using real users of assistive technologies such as JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver. It is precisely the sensitive workflows, such as authentication and verification, that only reveal their difficulties when a real user goes through them. The result is the IFDB certificate, which serves as robust evidence.

Access Doc®

takes care of the industry’s document workload: bank statements, insurance policies, pre-contractual information. Access Doc® converts these legally sensitive documents to the PDF/UA standard on a scalable basis – ensuring that every policy and every statement remains accessible.

Access Guard®

keeps track of your digital applications whilst they are in operation. New products, security updates, regulatory changes – the world of finance never stands still. The monitoring system identifies emerging barriers immediately and ensures your compliance status at all times.

Access Protect®

provides you with the legal backing that a regulated industry requires. Once an audit has been successfully completed, we contractually assume liability; should a formal warning be issued, IFDB experts and partner law firms will handle the matter. In an industry where reputation is everything, this offers a crucial safety net.

FROM THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT TO THE CERTIFICATE

Four steps to accessible online banking

  • Step 01 – The free assessment
    Access Score® automatically scans your application and, within minutes, highlights the areas where you need to take action first. There’s no obligation and no effort from your teams.
  • Step 02 – Checking the infrastructure
    Our audit team manually goes through the authentication process, the application workflow and the account overview, together with users of assistive technologies. This reveals the barriers precisely where security and usability overlap.
  • Step 03 – Resolve and certify
    You will receive a prioritised audit report containing specific recommendations ready for implementation. Once all non-conformities have been resolved, we will issue the IFDB certificate – your proof for customers, regulatory authorities and partners.
  • Step 04 – Long-term security
    With Access Guard®, the level of protection achieved remains consistent even in the event of regulatory changes. Access Protect® complements the contractual protection against warnings – an advantage that is particularly valuable in the financial sector.

The Access Ready® Award – awarded to pioneers of genuine digital inclusion.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about accessibility in the finance sector

Yes, and that is particularly clear. Banking services for consumers are explicitly mentioned in the BFSG. Insurance companies fall under this category as soon as they market their products to consumers digitally. Since June 2025, there has been a legal obligation for almost all consumer-oriented financial applications.

Security mechanisms are one of the biggest challenges. They must fulfil their protective role whilst remaining accessible – for example, to screen reader users or people who are unable to manage time-critical inputs. We test precisely these scenarios with real users.

Yes. Even long, multi-step processes involving identity verification can be made accessible – with clear labelling, straightforward error management and clear focus guidance. The audit shows precisely where the problems are in each specific case.

Tables are a key aspect of finance. To ensure that a screen reader can correctly identify rows and columns, they must be clearly marked up. Otherwise, sales figures and terms and conditions become incomprehensible columns of numbers.

These legally relevant documents are also covered by the requirements. Access Doc® converts them to the PDF/UA standard on a scalable basis – from individual documents right through to large-scale mailings.

With the IFDB certificate from the Access Ready® audit. It documents a comprehensive testing process in accordance with WCAG 2.2 and serves as robust evidence of your due diligence – a factor that carries particular importance in a regulated sector.

That is exactly what Access Guard® is for. The monitoring system automatically checks every change and reports new barriers immediately – ensuring that even mandatory updates maintain the standard achieved.

With Access Protect®, we contractually assume liability on the basis of your audit. Should a formal notice be issued, IFDB experts and partner law firms will take charge of the matter – ensuring that an alleged compliance breach does not result in a loss of public trust.

Financial independence must not be undermined by service issues.

Accessible online banking restores to people what money truly means: independence. And it protects the most valuable asset a financial brand possesses – the trust of its customers. Let’s assess together where your digital applications stand today.

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Banking services and accessibility – a matter expressly regulated by law

Few sectors are covered as explicitly in the Accessibility Strengthening Act as the financial sector: banking services for consumers are listed by name. The Act implements the European Accessibility Act into national law and bases its requirements on the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – the standard that defines when authentication, application processes and account statements are accessible to all customers.

The quickest way to assess your organisation’s current state is through a free initial analysis, before the certified in-depth audit examines the security-critical aspects in detail. And as financial applications are subject to constant regulatory changes, continuous monitoring ensures that the level of compliance achieved remains stable even through any mandatory updates – so that accessibility becomes a permanent feature of your brand, rather than a one-off effort.