PayU launches accessible checkout for digital payments

By Milan Rojan

PayU has launched an accessibility-focused payments checkout for blind and visually impaired users in India, as the FinTech has sought to make online transactions more inclusive.

The company has said its new Accessible Payments Checkout has been designed to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s October 2024 accessibility mandate under BIS IS 17802. PayU has positioned the service as India’s first payment gateway checkout designed specifically to meet these requirements.

The new checkout has introduced features including screen-reader optimisation, adaptive user profiles, visual inclusivity modes and text resizing. These were designed to help users navigate payment journeys independently, from selecting payment methods and confirming transaction details to completing payments.

PayU has said its screen-reader optimisation has enabled users to navigate the checkout through voice commands, while adaptive profiles have allowed users to customise cursor sizes, button dimensions and navigation aids. The platform has also included high-contrast, greyscale, colour inversion and saturation adjustment modes for users with low vision, colour blindness or light sensitivity.

The checkout has supported text scaling of up to 200% without overlapping or obscuring content.

Manas Mishra, Chief Product Officer at PayU and Wibmo, has said accessibility has been treated as a core design principle as the company has worked to enable users to access digital payments independently.

For merchants, PayU has said the accessibility features have been integrated without requiring changes to existing payment integrations. This has enabled businesses already using PayU to offer an accessibility-focused checkout experience without modifying their existing setup.

The launch has highlighted the growing focus on accessibility within India’s digital payments ecosystem, as payment providers have sought to align technology with broader financial inclusion objectives.