More and more complaints are coming in from elderly people and their relatives in Spain who complain about the difficulty of accessing an ATM where they can withdraw money. Or about the distance to a branch where they can go for the various services. For many older people, it is even impossible.
This is especially a problem in areas and cities where there is an exodus. For this reason, new initiatives or ideas are constantly emerging to try to solve this situation.
How the elderly can get money
One of the solutions is the “first telephone service for home delivery of money in the Spanish banking system” in partnership with Correos. According to a press release from the Spanish CaixaBank , this service ‘Correos Cash’ is already operational. Customers of CaixaBank can have sums of money between €60 and €500 brought to their home. For that, they can call through a free-phone number from anywhere in Spain. There are two numbers to choose from – 900 40 40 90 or 900 365 065.
The Spanish postal company Correos is responsible for the preparation and delivery of the money. The bank does not charge any extra costs on top of the €7.15 charged by the postal company. The initiative envisages that “in a second phase”, customers will also be able to pay and withdraw cash from Correos’ customer service points.
Financial Inclusion Solution
CaixaBank started this initiative due to the lack of ATMs and branches of any bank in certain municipalities. Some 900,000 Spaniards live in such areas, the majority of whom are elderly, the bank emphasises.
Financial inclusion is important to the bank. With around 4,000 branches, this bank has the most extensive network of branches and ATMs in Spain. This new service contributes to financial inclusion, everyone should have access to their money. Correos has stressed that it is also “contributing” to the achievement of this objective. This, in turn, has a positive impact on the economic development of rural areas.
Also read: ATMs for places with no bank branch
