AEB, CECA, and Unacc held a meeting today at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to monitor the various protocols developed over the last year and a half. All share the same objective and reflect a clear sector-wide vocation: to strengthen the social and sustainable commitment of banking to help address the challenges we face as a society, such as the impact of digitalization, depopulation, or the effects of rising interest rates.
The meeting was attended by the Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño; the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos and Margarita Delgado, respectively; and consumer and senior citizens’ associations.
Banking associations detailed the efforts made in rural areas according to the annual monitoring report: access to banking services has been enabled in 433 municipalities, benefiting 162,641 people who now have a face-to-face access point in their municipality. Consequently, the population residing in a municipality without an access point in Spain has dropped from 1.4% in 2021 to 1% in 2022.
In the 243 municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants initially identified as lacking access to cash, data up to last March shows that 139 have a solution planned, already implemented, or in progress. This represents a 57% reduction in these municipalities, with 124,000 people benefiting from the measures taken.
Furthermore, the sector is moving forward with technical work to create a white-label ATM for rural Spain, should it be necessary to complement the other measures already in place. This is a novel measure resulting from the joint effort of the entities and their commitment to offering financial services throughout the country.
On the other hand, the annual monitoring report on personalized service for the elderly reflects the results of specific measures implemented by the banking sector:
Other initiatives have been undertaken in this area, such as a satisfaction survey in which more than 70% of seniors expressed satisfaction with the banking service received through various channels.
The dissemination of measures aimed at the elderly has also been reinforced through the distribution of information leaflets in bank branches and digital channels.
The banking sector has also reaffirmed its commitment to financial education and digital skills training with new initiatives. The goal is to facilitate access to knowledge and skills that help everyone make more informed financial decisions, operate in all available environments and channels, and securely access public and private services.
Additionally, the associations highlighted the Code of Good Practices agreed upon in 2022 to alleviate the mortgage burden on vulnerable families or those at risk of vulnerability due to the rise in official interest rates, defending its preventive nature.
