Spanish retirees see too many differences in the commissions charged by their banking entities. Card expenses, over-the-counter transfers or account maintenance are some of the examples for which banks charge commissions even if they have links and the direct debit pension.
If banking fees are added to all the existing difficulties: rise in the CPI, difficulty in making purchases, the price of energy and fuel, many of the elderly have difficulty making ends meet. Luckily, up to the age of 70 you can continue counting on credits on-line if extra help is needed.
If we take as a reference a pension of €900 per month for a retiree who withdraws €400 in cash, makes an over-the-counter transfer of around €300 and uses his debit card frequently, the most expensive banks are Bankinter, BBVA and Sabadell , according to the OCU in a press release.
Financial exclusion
More than a million people are affected by financial exclusion and a very high percentage are retirees. Although there is a protocol to try to ensure that the elderly are not disadvantaged by this situation, a year after its implementation it has still not been completely effective.
The fact that it is a protocol, that is, a simple self-regulation code, means that this improvement in care for older clients is not guaranteed. In fact, there are still savings banks without extended hours of care for the elderly, cash withdrawal commissions are maintained and many cards have been withdrawn.
For all this, it is necessary that this protocol be incorporated into the regulations to guarantee access to banking services for all older people, the most vulnerable. Added to this is that many small municipalities do not even have cash withdrawal services.
Commissions from 0 to €104
There are many differences in the price of an account if in-person services are used more than virtual ones, which is what retirees generally do more. The services on-line They are almost always free, but many older people have difficulty understanding them and prefer to go to their office.
With the example given above (pension of €900, monthly cash withdrawal of €400, over-the-counter transfer of €300 and use of a debit card) the annual commissions of the most expensive banks are: €104 for Banco Sabadell, €96 € for BBVA and €78 for Bankinter.
Commissions on transfers made from the office can reach up to 0.4%. This happens in the OK Plus account from Cajasur, OK Plus from Kutxabank, the BBVA Va Contigo Payroll Account, the 0.0 from Caja Laboral, the Ibercaja Pension Account and the Unicaja Plan Zero. The CaixaBank Day to Day Account is the most interesting (free) for people aged 65 and over.
Card, maintenance and cash withdrawal
The annual fee for having a debit card also varies from bank to bank. In fact, in the Cajamar Pensioners Account it is 18 euros (with exceptions), €25 if you have the Globalcaja You Choose Plan, €28 in the Ibercaja Pension Account and €30 in the Bankinter Pension Account .
No one expects the maintenance account and, in the specific case of Banco Sabadell clients, it is €80 per year if the receipts and pension are direct debited. With the Globalcaja You Choose Plan it is much cheaper, €12 if you buy with the card and have the pension direct deposited.
As far as cash withdrawals are concerned, the commissions are changing. For example, if you withdraw less than €2,000 at the counter at a BBVA branch, the commission is €2. In CaixaBank it is the same, although in this bank, those over 65 years of age can withdraw 5 times a month at no cost as well as make 5 transfers and 5 bill payments.
From the consumer organization they point out that there are banks that charge less commissions if there are links, such as investment funds. This happens with Unicaja’s Zero Plan (minimum €6,000) and with Abanca’s Premium Level Account (minimum €8,000).
