Spain ranks second in the financial inclusion ranking in Europe, and is among the top globally, according to the World Bank. The banks’ ambition is to continue providing the best service to all customers to ensure their satisfaction and maintain a long-term relationship with them, which is essential for banks to guarantee their continuity in the current context of digital transformation.
The ultimate function of banks is to provide the financial services and products that individuals and businesses need to realize their projects and businesses or maintain their activity. To build a strong relationship between both parties, good interactive, personalized, and specialized communication is key. And each customer, based on their desires or personal reality, must be able to choose the best way to communicate with their bank from all those available.
Banks offer their customers a wide range of communication channels, from traditional branches to digital applications and websites, as well as ATMs, mobile offices, collaborating agents, and mobile banking. The extensive network of bank branches in Spain, with one of the highest densities per inhabitant in all of Europe, highlights the industry’s effort to communicate with consumers who, increasingly, demand changes in the service provided in line with the transformation of society.
At the same time, our banks lead the digital transformation in the Old Continent to adapt to society’s growing demand for online services and products. The key is to always strive to offer the best service, regardless of the channel chosen by the customer. Furthermore, they have opened collaboration channels with third parties, such as the postal service (Correos), to guarantee access to financial services throughout Spain and focus on the most vulnerable groups, the elderly, and those with different abilities. Within the strategy of providing service, accessibility is a priority and a goal for banks. They set out on this path some time ago, but they still have a long way to go.
Banks serve all customers, whether or not they have experience with digital channels, unlike other companies such as big tech firms that focus only on certain, more profitable segments of banking activity. No one should be left on the sidelines of the social and economic transformation brought about by digitalization, which the IMF considers key to social inclusion and future economic development. The best way to help our seniors is to address their specific needs and work to facilitate their progressive adaptation, as far as possible, to the facilities offered by the diversity of banking channels. The AEB Foundation has spent three years promoting the Expertclick program for the digital training of our elderly in rural areas, so they can access all types of private and public services. It is important that the rest of society and public administrations support us in this endeavor.
Banks carry out specific physical and digital accessibility programs to adapt service for the elderly and people with different abilities; as well as training programs for commercial service professionals to facilitate appropriate treatment for seniors, and support measures for the digitalization of elderly customers, who receive priority attention both by telephone and in branches.
Banking customer service is free, efficient, accessible, inclusive, and evaluable 24 hours a day, every day of the year, despite not being a public service or one related to health or personal security emergencies, which do require intensive attention. The best example is the service linked to payment methods and other banking operations via applications. The use of automated answering machines, a formula widespread across all industries, is a complementary channel to streamline service, but it is not exclusive.
The transformation taking place throughout the economy is an evident and irreversible fact, which results, in the case of the banking sector, in an adjustment of offices and jobs, as recommended by all regulatory and supervisory authorities.
Banks are making intensive and ongoing efforts to adapt to consumer habits and the environment—something essential for the survival of any company—as reflected in the decisions companies make every day in this rapidly changing environment driven by digitalisation.
Sometimes, and occasionally with an imprecise interpretation of information, banks are blamed for the havoc caused by depopulation in rural Spain, where schools, doctors, health centers, pharmacies, digital infrastructure, and public transport are lacking, among many other essential services. The phenomenon turns out to be quite the opposite: it is the decline in population and its movement toward larger urban centers that has reduced the capacity to traditionally serve those who remain in small villages. And yet, banks continue to offer an efficient and diligent service to all customers at all times.
José Luis Martínez Campuzano, spokesperson for the Spanish Banking Association
