Spanish pensioner claims first victory in anti-online banking crusade

San Juan, 78, outside a bank in Madrid, Spain on Feb 8, 2022. The retiree notched his first victory in his campaign to keep in-person customer services at bank branches after Banco Santander, Spain’s largest lender in terms of global total assets, announced on Feb 9 that it would extend its teller opening hours for all customers by three hours. — AP

A pensioner and critic of online banking has claimed his first victory against Spanish banks with a protest campaign titled “I’m old, but I’m not an idiot”.

Just one day after 78-year-old Carlos San Juan surpassed the 600,000 signature mark with his online petition, the first major financial institution has reacted.

Banco Santander, Spain’s largest lender in terms of global total assets, announced on Feb 9 that it would extend its teller opening hours for all customers by three hours, state broadcaster RTVE and other media reported.

The measure is set to come into effect on Monday.

San Juan presented his petition to the Economy Ministry and the Central Bank in Madrid on Feb 8.

The retired doctor is calling on Spanish banks to provide staffed services for older people in particular, rather than referring them to digital services, as generally, the elderly are less at ease with online banking.

“This will be a difficult task,” he was quoted as saying by Europa Press news agency.

Spain’s banks, like many others worldwide, are shuttering branches and scaling back the times when face-to-face services are available, prompting San Juan to call for “urgent measures”.

Economy Minister Nadia Calviño has promised him government action by the end of the month.

Growing use of digital services is not only affecting banks, El País newspaper reported.

Around a third of Spaniards feel restricted in terms of their ability to access services, jobs or state aid due to the digital divide, surveys show.

The government promised to lobby the banks to make staff available for older people, saying the industry recognised the problem and had vowed to remedy it. – dpa