The National Bank of Ukraine announced that it would initiate checks on the accessibility of banking services after a high-profile case in which an amputee veteran was unable to use the services of one of the banks.

This is an important and correct signal from the regulator. At the same time, it is difficult not to notice the main thing: systematic checks are launched only after a person has encountered barriers, humiliation and actual discrimination.

Barrier-free access should not be a reaction to scandal.

It should be a basic standard of operation — before a veteran, a person with a disability or another person with limited mobility finds themselves facing closed doors.

This is not about formal requirements, but about real things:

• accessible entrances and interior spaces of branches;
• adapted services and equipment;
• trained staff who know how to help correctly;
• real, not just declarative, compliance with accessibility standards.

At LAOPD, we constantly emphasise that:

inspections and controls should be regular, not situational;

accessibility to financial services is a right, not an exception after public pressure.

We would like to believe that the NBU's initiative will be the beginning of systemic change, rather than a one-off response to a specific incident. Because human dignity should not depend on media coverage.