Another 200,000 people in rural areas will soon have in-person access

Nearly 200,000 additional people in rural Spain will soon have a point of in-person access to banking services, according to data from the Financial Inclusion Observatory consulted by Europa Press.

This observatory brings together the banking associations AEB, CECA, and Unacc, which in October 2022 signed a protocol committing to establish a point of in-person access to banking services in the 243 municipalities with over 500 inhabitants that, as of December 31, 2021, had none.

A year later, banks already have at least one point of access— which may include ATMs, mobile offices, branches, financial agents, or post offices— in 158 of these municipalities, home to 138,757 people. This figure increases to 155,829 when including an additional 20 municipalities where ATMs are currently being installed.

Furthermore, 39,957 people from another 49 municipalities will soon have access to cash points, thanks to processes already initiated through bilateral conversations, agreements, or public tenders.

The completion of these processes will allow reaching 93% of the 243 municipalities identified in the protocol, benefiting a total of 195,426 individuals.

The recent municipal and regional elections in May may have extended the process in some cases due to the change in interlocutors, leading to delays beyond the deadline set in October 2022.

It is important to remember that at that time, banks committed to ensuring, within six months, at least one point of in-person access to banking services in all municipalities with over 500 inhabitants and, should they fail to achieve this in that timeframe, to install generic ATMs within an additional six-month period.

On another note, sector sources indicated to Europa Press that in discussions with public administrations, they have learned about the specific realities of rural populations, leading some municipalities to decline the offer for a public-private partnership to install an access point. Specifically, 16 municipalities with 18,000 inhabitants have opted out of the collaboration offer.

Conversely, in other locations, the deployments made to cover municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants have been leveraged.

ATTENTION TO THE ELDERLY

Regarding the follow-up on the measures agreed upon in February 2022 to improve attention to the elderly, in the first half of 2023, the percentage of offices providing in-person counter service from 09:00 to 14:00 has increased to 82.2%—up from 81% at the end of 2022.

Additionally, 5.6 million seniors benefited in the first half of the year from the preferential treatment measure for this group during times of high public influx in offices, while the telephone assistance service, at no extra cost and through a personal interlocutor, received more than 2 million calls from clients aged over 65 between January and June, which averages to more than two calls per person in this group.

The banking sector has continued to advance employee training to offer more tailored service to the elderly, resulting in over 36,800 employees being trained and a total of 248,000 hours of training during the first six months of the year.

Over 90% of branchless institutions provide telephone support from 09:00 to 18:00, maintaining the same ratio as in the previous report, which analyzed 2022 data, while 90% of the sector has implemented improvements in their digital channels tailored to the needs of this group.

94% of the total ATM network from credit institutions—up from 91% at the end of 2022—has also incorporated enhancements to cater to individuals over 65, totaling 36,000 ATMs.

Finally, the average resolution time for ATM incidents remains at one working day, improving the commitment subscribed to in the February 2022 ten-point plan, which previously allowed for two working days.

FINANCIAL OR DIGITAL TRAINING

In the first quarter, over 277,000 clients have been trained in financial, digital, or fraud prevention topics, aligning with the banking sector’s commitment to financial and digital education and addressing the needs of seniors, both in-person and through other available channels.

In this regard, it is essential to highlight the initiative created in May 2022 called ‘Aula Financiera y Digital‘ by AEB, CECA, and Unacc. To date, this platform has compiled nearly 400 financial and digital training actions, 40 of which were added in the past year, along with multimedia content—videos and podcasts—focused on financial and digital education. Still, 40% of the initiatives listed on the platform are in-person to respond to the needs of groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities.