The President of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Rold\u00e1n, highlighted the swift response by the authorities and the banking sector to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis on households and businesses during his address at the online seminar organised by EY on 29 May.<\/p>\n
“Banks have already provided ICO-guaranteed loans to 300,000 companies, 95% of them SMEs, and half of those micro-SMEs, and have granted payment deferrals on mortgages and personal loans to more than 200,000 customers” in total between the public moratorium and the one voluntarily agreed by the private sector, he explained.<\/p>\n
From the very start of the pandemic, he stressed, banks have been able to remain fully operational, with no issues at any time in the provision of banking services and products, thanks to the commitment to digitalisation they undertook years ago.<\/p>\n
“From the standpoint of operational resilience, the banking sector has not caused a single problem\u2014quite the opposite; it has been a source of strength in very difficult circumstances,” said the President of the AEB, who also offered special thanks to bank employees for the service provided in branches during the toughest phase of the lockdown.<\/p>\n
“It hurts a little when everyone thanks healthcare workers, transport workers and supermarket shelf stackers for their work” as essential personnel for society, “but no one thanks bank employees for having stayed on the front line in branches, helping customers in the worst moments of the crisis.”<\/p>\n
As a result of the difficult scenario caused by the virus, customers feel increasingly comfortable using digital banking and increasingly uncomfortable using cash. “From this extreme experience,” he noted, “we will all draw lessons, and we as providers of financial products.” <\/p>\n
In this regard, he argued that the pandemic should serve to review today\u2019s complex regulation and to have simpler, more effective rules that make it easier for the banking sector to finance households and businesses at all times and contribute to economic and social progress: “Let us review what is unnecessarily complex and see what has worked and what has not.”<\/p>\n