The pensioner who has declared war on the banks

MADRID“Look, he’s the man fighting for the banks. Congratulations on what he’s doing, eh!”, A woman’s voice interrupts in the middle of a call with Carlos as he walks down the street. In recent weeks, this 78-year-old neighbor from Valencia has become accustomed to being stopped on the street by strangers. The reason: he has waged a battle of David once morest Goliath to regain “human attention in bank branches.” A struggle that has not only received widespread social support, but has even forced Moncloa and the Bank of Spain to move tab.

The drop that spilled the glass was “the merger of two banks”, explains Carlos San Juan in a telephone conversation with ARA, referring to CaixaBank and Bankia, although he avoids naming companies: “I’m talking regarding big banks in general,” he insists. This retiree says he was happy with the financial sector and received excellent treatment. “I had no complaints,” he reiterates, until everything began to change “overnight.” As a result of the merger, he says, he began to notice how bank branches were closed, customer service hours were reduced or he felt “helpless in front of very complicated ATMs that were always broken”. For him, the bank’s office was like being able to go to the fruit shop for a lifetime: “I knew the workers, and they knew me and my problems.” He especially remembers one of the last days he went in person to try to make an appointment: the queue of elderly people waiting was so long that he left “emotionally undone.”

That’s when he decided to knock on the door of another entity. “I saw the exact same thing happen: they don’t help you, with complicated ATMs; office closures and shutters down very early,” he recalls. A doctor by profession, Carlos defines himself as a person who avoids saying “this is not my problem”. That’s why, talking to friends and family, including his father-in-law, a former banker who says he is “absolutely right”, Carlos decided to start collecting signatures to ask the banks to recover the money. face-to-face customer service and expand offices and opening hours. “By Christmas I had 101 signatures and I lost some hope, until I decided to open the campaign through a digital platform.” As of January 28, more than 460,000 people have signed their petition; the goal is to reach 500,000 signatures. “It’s a way to represent the silent outcry of many seniors who can’t sign up because they don’t have access to the internet or the right digital resources,” the pensioner told ARA.

A public service

The latest data from the Bank of Spain on bank branches take us back to 1977. There are currently 20,421 bank branches in Spain, the second lowest figure recorded since that year, when there were 20,387. This scenario has led the Catalan Ombudsman to decide to investigate, precisely, the social impact of its closure, especially among the elderly population. The cut in offices is part of a process of restructuring of entities in Spain that has also led to the departure of thousands of workers. “In four days, the banks will not have any workers. They will end up being marginalized like us,” Carlos criticizes harshly.

“They think this is not a public service,” said Carlos, who said that in his case he needs to go to the office every month to get some of the money he receives from the pension and “update the card.” “If not, where do I get them from? [els diners]? ” Carlos does not dare to do it. “One day I get the wrong number and send money to anyone who doesn’t touch it!” strategy to get older people out. “Young people will one day grow up too, so what?”

Reaction to Moncloa

This Thursday, Carlos left a note to all those who have signed the campaign so far. “The governor of the Bank of Spain just called me on the phone, and on Tuesday the Ministry of Economy called me. The governor told me that he understood me and that he was aware that a solution had to be found.” In fact, the Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, sent a letter to the sector urging him to “launch, within a month, an action plan to put an end to these difficulties.” “It’s a matter of social justice,” says Carlos, who is confident of more than half a million signatures. “It simply came to our notice then [als bancs]”, ends.