Mastercard has announced the Canadian launch of its Touch Card, a payment card innovation designed to help Canadians who are blind, Deafblind or have low vision navigate daily transactions with confidence and independence.
Available on the new CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard as of May 1, 2025, Touch Card features distinct notches—rounded for debit, squared for credit and triangular for prepaid—allowing users to easily identify their cards by touch. This simple yet effective system ensures that cardholders can quickly select and correctly orient their cards during transactions, reducing potential errors and reinforcing their autonomy.
“The Touch Card feature is inclusive by design and addresses a longstanding challenge faced by Canadians with sight loss when engaging in everyday financial activities,” said Shawna Miller, Senior Vice President of Canada Marketing & Communications at Mastercard. “At Mastercard, we’re proud to foster innovation like Touch Card to make the digital economy more inclusive, secure and seamless for the sight loss community in Canada.”
The launch comes amid growing recognition of the need for accessible financial products. According to the Mastercard Pulse survey, eight in ten Canadians believe it is important to embed accessibility in financial services for the sight loss community. The introduction of Touch Card follows other Mastercard initiatives supporting inclusivity, including True Name™, which helps transgender and non-binary people use their chosen names on cards, and Sonic at POS, which offers audio payment confirmations at checkout.
Wayne Henshall, Director of Partnerships & Innovation at CNIB, praised the initiative: “Touch Card by Mastercard is a welcomed and important step forward in improving the accessibility of payment cards in Canada. We applaud Mastercard for integrating accessibility into their new debit, credit and prepaid cards and look forward to continued advances that benefit everyone.”
CIBC is the first Canadian bank to offer Touch Card to its clients through the CIBC Adapta Mastercard. “At CIBC, we’re helping clients realize their unique ambitions,” said Diane Ferri, Senior Vice President of Day-to-Day Banking at CIBC. “The innovative Touch Card feature on the CIBC Adapta Mastercard supports our ongoing efforts to ensure our products and services are accessible to all.”
Initially launched worldwide in 2021, Touch Card underscores Mastercard’s ongoing commitment to accessibility and inclusive design. Learn more about the Touch Card feature and its availability in Canada here.
