Caring for senior citizens

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused difficulties or changes in many aspects of daily life. The reduction in face-to-face contacts has shifted banking to the online sphere. For senior citizens, who mostly belong to the digitally excluded group, remote banking could have been difficult.

Source: CSO data, Pensions in 2017.

We explored the topic thoroughly and extensively. We took advantage of the tools and solutions used in service design. Sources of our knowledge included interviews with seniors, their proxies and bank advisors, information and data concerning products and services and ways of communicating about the services.

• One of the biggest challenges is the digital exclusion of this group of customers. Many older people who do not use the Internet simply do not know what use they could make of it. They are not aware that they can use it to satisfy various needs or solve problems.
• As shown by research (Kantar Millward Brown), seniors declare openness to the possibilities offered by the Internet and new technologies. They want to be up-to-date and participate in the new reality, because it makes them feel younger.
• Non-digital seniors who are lonely come to the branches to satisfy their need for human contact.
• Seniors benefit from the transition to electronic banking. Those who have learned to do so are proud about the change, their independence and familiarity with new technologies. It is therefore worthwhile to take measures to support such a move.

We created a dedicated ”Help Senior Log In” page which aims to educate and support the transition to remote banking for seniors and their loved ones. Among other things, we have reminded people how to set up and use a Trusted Profile and how to bank securely from home.

For those supporting seniors to bank remotely, we have provided a dedicated tab  ”Take care of your loved ones” on the bank’s pages devoted to the pandemic situation.

• We have prepared a series of short video tutorials which explain how to use our services and solutions. The videos are available at the ”HelpSeniorLogIn” service. In the tutorials we explain each topic in detail and step by step walk the customer through remote banking. Here are some of the topics covered in the videos:

In total we prepared 22 videos.

• Within a short time of launching the option dedicated to seniors on the helpline our observations showed that the solution worked. It is used not only by older people but also by their grandchildren or children who want to find out how to help their relatives.

Some seniors need advice on using online access to their bank and want to learn about the benefits of remote banking. Many are already proficient in using the bank’s products and services and ask advisors detailed questions. Others call because they need technical support.

• Our advisers are well prepared, they know how to talk to seniors. They are committed, patient, kind, speak slowly and calmly. Clients appreciate this, and often during conversations they thank us very much for the help, for our approach and the support received from advisors.
• A senior customer who understands remote banking feels younger by some 20 years and it can be felt even in their voice over the phone. After our pilot project, we learned that customers who were convinced to use digital banking were eager to tell their friends about it and encouraged them to use the new options because it turned out that ”it was not so difficult at all”.

• We have developed a prototype process for moving the 'non-digital senior’ to online banking.

We want to engage the persons closest to seniors in order to provide them with comfortable conditions for using remote banking. We believe that it is a good solution to have the support of someone close and trusted, who has time for the older person and can explain everything patiently.

• We will provide a demo version so that seniors can test the services without fear of ”clicking something wrong” or making a mistake and losing money.
• We plan to allow a trusted user to be added to the senior’s e-banking platform. This person will be allowed to view seniors’ products and help if needed. This option will be voluntary and activated only at the senior’s request. Thanks to the solution, the senior will not feel left alone with the new finance management tool.

Seniors using digital solutions can become natural ambassadors of online banking and spread the concept of remote banking among their friends. Our pilot project involved the bank’s employees and their senior relatives and friends.

In 2021, we launched a test project. Couples consisting of a senior and his/her assistant can apply to participate in the #HelpSeniorLogIn programme . The assistants will support and accompany them during the programme. In the first edition, assistants had to submit an application by 14 May 2021 via a form on the bank’s website www.santander.pl/ws-zalogujseniora. Until 31 August, we are waiting for more couples to sign up for the second edition of the project.

A bank advisor will then contact the enrolled persons by phone to set up an online meeting and education plan tailored to the needs of the individual client.

The programme involves learning in stages so that eventually a person who has not yet used online banking can use remote services independently. It is also possible to contact a tutor from the programme at any time and use the materials that the bank makes available on the website.

More details, including the application form, are available at www.santander.pl/ws-zalogujseniora

• The Santander Bank Polska Foundation is offering a series of workshops for senior citizens entitled ”Independent and Safe Seniors on the Web” aimed at teaching them how to bank safely. In this way we support avoidance of situations in which the elderly fall prey to fraudsters who create fake payment sites, send infected links or pass themselves off as someone else. The Foundation cooperates with the police on projects such as: ”Happy Senior”, ”Grandson * Police Officer Scam”, ”Seniors, don’t give up!”, ”Olabogababciu” and ”Safe Senior in the Surrounding World”.
• In cooperation with the Lesław A. Paga Foundation, as part of the ”Seniors 4.0” project, we have prepared two podcasts for seniors and their relatives: ”Safe use of online banking” and ”Card payments and mobile services”. The expert materials for seniors were prepared by our employees.

• As part of the partnership in the ”Security in Cyberspace” project which is coordinated by the Warsaw Banking Institute, we got involved in the campaign ”Going Cashless Is Worthwhile”. The aim of the initiative was to educate seniors, among others, on how to use cashless payments in practice.

Find more information about our community initiatives aimed at seniors in the Communities chapter

Our activities addressed to seniors were appreciated by internet users and a team of experts who awarded us with the 1st place in the Golden Banker 2020 ranking in the ”Socially Sensitive Bank” category.