I’m old not stupid is the headline of a petition by Spanish pensioner

I’M old not stupid is the headline of a petition by Spanish pensioner Carlos San Juan, a 78-year-old man who is asking for more humane treatment in bank branches.
When he first put up his request for people to sign his petition against the treatment of elderly people by Spanish banks on change.org the response was far from immediate but it grew until it broke the 600,000 mark and is now heading towards three quarters of a million.
The retired Valencian doctor simply explained “I am almost 80 years old and it makes me very sad to see that banks have forgotten older people like me.
“Now almost everything is online… and not all of us understand machines. We do not deserve this exclusion. That is why I am calling for more humane treatment at bank branches.”
He went on to complain that that more and more bank branches were being closed and it was becoming increasingly more necessary to use difficult to understand cash machines to do more than simply withdraw cash.
Perhaps unexpectedly, he was invited to visit the Ministry of Finance in Madrid to discuss the matter and he arrived to much excitement from the press on Tuesday February 8 accompanied by 610,000 signatures.
During his meeting, he explained the need for banks to stay open longer and make it easier for the elderly to make appointments for face-to-face meeting where they could receive assistance rather than scorn for not knowing how to use a Banking App.
Following this he was surprised and delighted that Minister Nadia Calviño came to talk to him and she promised that something would be done and even gave an undertaking that this would happen by the end of February.
Next on the agenda was a walk past a number of Spanish banks followed by the press, a call to the Bank of Spain and then a meeting with the three banking associations who also promised to take action to review the situation.
This seems to have had some immediate success as already Abanca has extended hours whilst Santander announced that it would extend personal appointments from 10am to 1pm, so for once, people power seems to be having some success.
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