The banking associations AEB, CECA, and Unacc have agreed on a ten-point plan of measures to improve personalized service for senior citizens, a demographic that requires special attention and into which we all, life permitting, eventually integrate to varying degrees over time.
The first points of the ten-point plan include extending opening hours to ensure enhanced in-person service for cash transactions, and providing preferential treatment to the senior segment in branches—especially during peak hours—and by telephone. The adaptation of ATMs, applications, and websites with simplified language and views to facilitate their use is also part of the extensive set of agreed measures, which complement those already taken by banks to continue providing the best service to customers.
With his campaign ‘I’m old, not an idiot,’ Carlos San Juan has highlighted the magnitude of the difficulties some senior citizens face in accessing financial services, which necessitated advancements from banks following the adjustments made to address the pandemic. With the outbreak of Covid, institutions ensured financial services through all possible channels and prioritized the protection of their customers, especially the elderly—the group most exposed to the disease—which implied some limitations in branches for health reasons. Now that we are overcoming the virus, it is time to readjust the service, each bank according to the needs of its customers and its characteristics, as always. The customer service provided by banks is free, efficient, inclusive, and assessable, twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year. A good example of this is the service related to payment methods.
Banks offer their products and services by combining multiple channels so that customers can choose at any time. Between the physical branch and digital banking, there are mobile offices, telephone banking, ATMs, and collaborating agents. Furthermore, banks have opened channels for collaboration with third parties, such as Correos, to ensure access to cash throughout Spain, with a special focus on the most vulnerable groups.
Our institutions serve all their customers, whether or not they have experience with digital channels, unlike other companies, such as large tech firms, which focus only on specific, most profitable segments of banking activity. This digital competition, without these technology companies being subject to the strict regulation and demanding supervision of banks, is one of the challenges the banking sector faces in the future. Its main asset is the trust of its customers, who are aware that their resources and their financial and personal data are secure with banks.
Innovation and adaptation to customer needs are in the DNA of this industry, a leader in the digital transformation of financial services in Europe and in the application of measures aimed at senior citizens and people with diverse abilities, with its ten-point plan to improve personalized service for this group, an initiative that the European press reports and holds up as an example for its local entities.
The social and economic transformation brought about by digitalization is undeniable. And the obligation of social distancing derived from the health crisis has led to a giant leap in the already growing digitalization process our society is undergoing. Despite its benefits and its ability to improve our quality of life, the leap has been too great for some people. This is the case for the elderly, who may encounter obstacles in various areas of their lives, as digitalization is present in essential public services such as healthcare and public administration. But also in accessing equally important services from private companies. It is desirable that the significant step taken by banks is replicated by other companies and public administrations. Because digitalization should not exclude anyone; on the contrary, it should complement and improve service.
In addition to its own adaptation process, the banking sector redoubles efforts to facilitate society’s adaptation to the impact of new technologies, aware that digitalization is an enormous challenge affecting all sectors of the economy and can offer great advantages from which no one should be excluded, due to the agility and immediacy it provides when accessing private and public products and services.
The world is changing, and the magnitude of the new challenges we face is formidable, from Covid to climate change and digitalization. But the greatest challenge of all, undoubtedly, is knowing how to adapt gradually, each person at their own pace, to the changes that are coming and are yet to come. Banks are clear on this, as their raison d’être is the continuous improvement of customer service, a goal for which there will always be progress to be made.
José Luis Martínez Campuzano, Spokesperson for the Spanish Banking Association
