Berliner Boersenzeitung - How a pensioner made Spanish banks rethink counter services

EUR -
AED 4.31522
AFN 81.967868
ALL 97.953302
AMD 450.462734
ANG 2.102519
AOA 1077.327847
ARS 1482.646294
AUD 1.796281
AWG 2.114711
AZN 2.000558
BAM 1.956473
BBD 2.368695
BDT 143.479391
BGN 1.954293
BHD 0.442792
BIF 3494.97335
BMD 1.174839
BND 1.500504
BOB 8.10686
BRL 6.448577
BSD 1.173194
BTN 100.714384
BWP 15.652321
BYN 3.839289
BYR 23026.852694
BZD 2.356491
CAD 1.603362
CDF 3389.411964
CHF 0.935742
CLF 0.028822
CLP 1106.041171
CNY 8.42935
CNH 8.428016
COP 4737.070038
CRC 592.501439
CUC 1.174839
CUP 31.133245
CVE 110.304849
CZK 24.644485
DJF 208.910136
DKK 7.460618
DOP 70.213871
DZD 152.291981
EGP 58.459315
ERN 17.622591
ETB 162.816655
FJD 2.637161
FKP 0.861559
GBP 0.863249
GEL 3.184118
GGP 0.861559
GHS 12.201304
GIP 0.861559
GMD 83.993937
GNF 10174.415807
GTQ 9.018258
GYD 245.446581
HKD 9.222413
HNL 30.650421
HRK 7.53295
HTG 153.471524
HUF 399.338544
IDR 19084.326558
ILS 3.941354
IMP 0.861559
INR 100.741656
IQD 1536.829033
IRR 49490.110818
ISK 142.601694
JEP 0.861559
JMD 187.243659
JOD 0.832997
JPY 171.762709
KES 151.847608
KGS 102.739882
KHR 4712.582132
KMF 494.039452
KPW 1057.353226
KRW 1608.214358
KWD 0.358749
KYD 0.977637
KZT 609.429788
LAK 25280.487296
LBP 105114.78968
LKR 352.9685
LRD 235.224978
LSL 20.830093
LTL 3.468995
LVL 0.710649
LYD 6.319121
MAD 10.559925
MDL 19.791645
MGA 5144.749117
MKD 61.493881
MMK 2466.239222
MNT 4216.2784
MOP 9.485965
MRU 46.516815
MUR 52.997265
MVR 18.090871
MWK 2033.891485
MXN 21.882407
MYR 4.984257
MZN 75.142926
NAD 20.830271
NGN 1796.423791
NIO 43.174495
NOK 11.824042
NPR 161.139784
NZD 1.952166
OMR 0.45172
PAB 1.172989
PEN 4.162933
PGK 4.918672
PHP 66.276279
PKR 333.324524
PLN 4.244472
PYG 9349.138741
QAR 4.288749
RON 5.068026
RSD 117.162029
RUB 91.987927
RWF 1694.075954
SAR 4.406341
SBD 9.794547
SCR 17.23681
SDG 705.493061
SEK 11.15214
SGD 1.501386
SHP 0.923239
SLE 26.421964
SLL 24635.799589
SOS 670.427933
SRD 43.765702
STD 24316.804068
SVC 10.265534
SYP 15275.107238
SZL 20.82408
THB 38.223419
TJS 11.291879
TMT 4.123686
TND 3.421636
TOP 2.751593
TRY 47.003794
TTD 7.951737
TWD 34.167829
TZS 3104.738759
UAH 49.083187
UGX 4208.484538
USD 1.174839
UYU 47.087011
UZS 14732.071323
VES 130.738774
VND 30695.029609
VUV 139.59913
WST 3.219634
XAF 656.180089
XAG 0.03197
XAU 0.000353
XCD 3.175063
XDR 0.816077
XOF 656.177295
XPF 119.331742
YER 284.487772
ZAR 20.902036
ZMK 10574.963058
ZMW 28.419541
ZWL 378.297815
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

How a pensioner made Spanish banks rethink counter services
How a pensioner made Spanish banks rethink counter services

How a pensioner made Spanish banks rethink counter services

It was his bank's limited counter service and indifference to his struggles with ATMs and apps that forced a Spanish pensioner to act, highlighting the panic the digital revolution is causing many older people.

Text size:

For Carlos San Juan, from the eastern port city of Valencia, the tipping point was an incident with an ATM in which the bank staff "flatly refused to come out and help" and would not let him in because he did not have an appointment.

A retired urologist from Valencia, he went home and wrote a manifesto called "I'm elderly, not an idiot," which was initially signed in December by around 100 friends and acquaintances.

It struck a chord, quickly finding its way onto the Change.org online platform, where it picked up nearly 650,000 signatures of support and was put before the authorities.

Such was the pressure that Spain's three main banking associations last week signed a protocol in the presence of economy minister Nadia Calvino pledging to improve customer service for older people.

Bank branches "will expand their counter service opening hours", "older people will be prioritised" and "ATMs, banking apps and web pages will be adapted with a simplified interface and language," said the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), one of the signatories.

- 'Be patient with us' -

San Juan hopes the measure will end "the plight of those who still have banking books, and that of older people with mobility issues having to queue in wheelchairs, with walkers or sticks, who have to "keep coming back" to see a bank employee face-to-face.

"I have Parkinson's disease," says this friendly, eloquent 78-year-old who normally goes to the bank when there are fewer people because he needs more time.

People of his age need to be shown patience, he says. "We might learn something today and then forget it two days later."

Older people are "absolutely not against digitalisation... That's here to stay", all they want is "a more humane transition" into the future.

AEB president Jose María Roldan agrees.

"San Juan has made us all realise we need to look after those who can't go as fast and those who will always need help because of their personal circumstances," he said during the signing ceremony.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the Spanish banking sector has halved its number of branches to around 20,000, shedding nearly 40 percent of its employees -- who today number 172,000, European Central Bank figures show.

That is an average of eight employees per branch, compared with an average of 12.5 in neighbouring France, which has 402,000 employees and 32,000 branches.

- 'State of distrust' -

Some are already trying imaginative solutions to address the problems.

In Anover de Tormes, a tiny village of around 100 residents some 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the north-western town of Salamanca, a library bus pulls out of the mist and parks up.

In November, the "Bibliobus" was fitted with an ATM which David Mingo, head of culture for Salamanca province, describes as "an important first step towards resolving a big problem".

After serving six people, the bus moves on to Santiz, which has 300 residents, three bars and a school.

In front of the "Bibliobus," Agustina Juan, 79, admits with frustration that she does not know how to withdraw money with a card. In fact, in the three villages visited by AFP, only one person used the ATM to withdraw money.

"I have no idea how to use it. You know why I have it? So I can pay by card when I go to the supermarket," she shrugs.

The bigger problem is trying to resolve an erroneous banking charge or any other problem.

"I have to travel 40 kilometres (to the branch) to see what's happened. Or if you phone up, it's awful: the line's always busy and you have to keep calling," she says.

At her side, 76-year-old Raquel Vicente says the elderly have lost track of their finances.

"The only thing you can do in your old age is count your money, but with the system like this, you just can't see it, so you live in this constant state of distrust," she sighs.

(Y.Berger--BBZ)