This is the first time that a card feature has been developed specifically for blind and partially sighted people and its introduction is intended to improve ease of card use.

Almost two million people* in the UK are registered as blind or partially sighted. To help meet their needs, card issuers will now have the opportunity to offer a Visa card with a tactile mark - a clear raised varnish key line around the Visa Brand Mark - that enables blind or partially sighted people to distinguish their debit or credit card more easily from other cards in their wallets and aid positioning in payment terminals. The Tactile Visa Brand Mark is a subtle addition to payment cards which does not alert prospective criminals to an individual's disability.

Visa Europe has collaborated with leading secure technologies group, Oberthur Technologies, to ensure the design can be widely reproduced.

This is the first time Visa is offering an endorsed and printed card feature and its introduction will also enable card issuers to introduce other design related elements on the card surface, enhancing the users' identification of individual cards. The mark can be simply integrated into existing card designs and at a low cost for those card issuers who would like to introduce the feature to any Visa card.

Marc O'Brien, Managing Director of the UK and Ireland at Visa Europe said: "The tactile mark enables a card to be quickly located and distinguished from other cards in a wallet, improving blind and partially sighted people's confidence when purchasing goods with their cards. Both our member banks and their customers have been looking for a solution and following extensive consultation we believe this is a straightforward option that will improve the ease of card use."