His petition has already garnered more than 330,000 signatures, and has generated many reactions in the country.
I may be old, but I’m not stupid!” This is the message from a Spanish retiree to banks that force customers, including those less comfortable with technology, to do all their transactions electronically.
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Carlos San Juan (Photo), a 78-year-old Valencian who is overwhelmed by the difficulties in accessing his accounts, has launched a petition on the dedicated website change.org. In one week, it collected more than 330,000 signatures… and numerous appearances in the Spanish media.
The retired doctor argues: “From now on, almost everything must be done on the internet. And not everyone can handle machines. We do not deserve this exclusion. I demand more humane treatment.” Dr. San Juan recounts in the text of his petition the small daily vexations: They talk to me as if I were stupid because I don’t know how to perform an operation (…). We cannot permanently ask children, nephews or neighbors to take care of the steps of the elderly.
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The complaint that all senior citizens seem to make is well founded. Spanish banks, by dint of mergers and restructuring, have considerably reduced the wing: 46,000 branches in 2008, barely 20,000 today. Counters, half as numerous, redirect customers to sites and mobile applications… For those who can! According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2021, only 13% of over 75s carried out an online banking transaction.