Cash, Digital Payments and Accessibility: A case study from metropolitan India

Despite the growing interest in digitization and money in HCI and CSCW, the use of cash and digital payments by people with disabilities has received scant attention. We present findings from a qualitative study of people with visual impairments' use of cash and digital payments in metropolitan India. Using ride-hailing services as an exemplar, we find that both cash and digital payments were inaccessible to participants. We use Perry and Ferreira's "moneywork" as a theoretical framework to highlight the "added" work necessitated by this inaccessibility; that is, the work done in addition to the interactional work necessary to complete financial transactions. We argue that this "added" work is instrumental in "making" payments accessible. We discuss how ride-hailing platforms mediated collaborations between drivers and riders in relation to payments, while still making "moneywork" essential. We provide recommendations to improve the accessibility of digital payments to facilitate greater economic inclusion.