According to the Equality Act 2010, circa 20% of the working-age population have accessibility needs, and many of them tend to have more difficulties covering expenses and paying bills. This problem can be due to several reasons, e.g., difficulties understanding complex financial products, outstanding medical bills, or the disability pay gap.
Nowadays Metaverse is becoming a trending topic, but what is the Metaverse? Different definitions of Metaverse have emerged, but the simplest one is “The Metaverse is the internet but in 3D”.
You can read here a full definition of Metaverse: everything you need to know to make the most of the “new world”.
The Metaverse can have many benefits, including helping people to overcome some of the problems they experience in real life regarding their finances. These are 5 ways the metaverse can help people with disabilities in their finances.
This new environment may particularly benefit people with disabilities as they could learn more about finances and money in the Metaverse and apply these learnings to real life.
5 Ways Metaverse can transform the lives of people with disabilities and their finances
1. It eliminates architectural barriers 🛡
In August, the Santander X Global Challenge blockchain beyond Metaverse was a massive milestone for Santander. The awards ceremony was available to everyone, and some found it particularly beneficial.
People with motor impairments and those who might feel anxious about social interactions could prefer to attend online events because they would avoid physical barriers or be surrounded by other people. Different online sessions could support people in several ways e.g., improve their finances by talking to their financial advisor or talking to bank agents to decide the best product for them.
2. It enables people to learn about anything related to finances 💵
The Santander X Global Challenge blockchain was an example of a broadcasted event on the Metaverse. Other events – e.g., training sessions or webinars – on just about any topic could be available on the Metaverse. People could learn about trending and complex concepts such as cryptocurrencies, the stock market, or blockchain.
The Metaverse can be a great environment to learn and practice anything. Anyone can benefit from learning via Metaverse as new concepts emerge frequently, and people would learn from their homes without needing to be in a physical space.
3. It can support people with managing their finances 📊
Those people who have problems managing their finances could use virtual money in the Metaverse to improve this skill. Virtual currencies can be saved or invested without real-life consequences. For instance, some people with cognitive disabilities may not understand complex financial concepts – e.g., how the stock market fluctuates; or they may not understand how to save money every month. By using virtual money, the risks or impacts on their finances can be reduced since they may understand money better and apply learnings to real life.
4. It can assist people with the challenges of buying their first home 🏠
Buying a new home can be a big decision for Santander customers because this will likely be the most expensive asset they will purchase in their entire life. This process can be challenging, dreadful, and demanding for everyone. Some people, including some with cognitive disabilities or people not familiar with the process – e.g., people from another country, might have problems understanding the process of buying a house. The Metaverse could help them experience the process of house hunting and applying for a mortgage before buying their first home in real life.
5. It can benefit people wishing to start their own business 👩🦯
By not being limited to a physical space, you can create your own business through the Metaverse without needing to invest real money. They could take some steps like talking to and hiring suppliers; renting a new office/retail space in the virtual world; strengthening their online presence, or any other goal related to starting their own business. Some people with visual impairments could benefit from experiencing these new office/retail spaces in the Metaverse as more descriptions about the space could be given to them. Some of these learnings and experiences can be transferred into real life and will make the process easier and more familiar for them.
These are some of the Metaverse’s beneficial factors that can help people to improve their finances. These benefits can be helpful to everyone, especially to people with disabilities, because this new virtual world could bring new opportunities for them and reduce the difficulties they experience in real life. Many companies, including Santander, are starting to use and provide services in Metaverse as strategic opportunities with its innovation. It can be a good occasion for everyone, not only for companies, and we all could take advantage of this.
Still don’t know the benefits for a company to create accessible digital products? 👈👈
Santander Global T&O is a global company of Santander Group with more than 3,000 employees and based in Madrid, we work to make Santander an open platform for financial services.
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Rocío Calvo Martín
Santander Group
I work as a UX lead and accessibility specialist at Santander UK. During the past fifteen years I have helped worldwide companies and institutions improving their digital journeys from accessibility and usability perspective. I graduated with a Cum laude distinction from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in 2017 with PhD in Computer Science. While doing my thesis I earned Jesús Lorés Award provided by AIPO (Spanish Human Computer Interaction association) and two best paper awards for the results and outputs of this PhD research. In my free time, I love learning and exploring new things, the last thing that I have learnt is how to cook curry sauce.
