Grey Argentina and Itaú Bank Take to the Streets to Serve Seniors During the Pandemic

Grey Argentina and its client, Itaú, the largest private bank in Latin America, joined forces recently to create a revolutionary pension delivery system for its elderly clients, the most at risk during the Covid-19 crisis. 

Historically, Argentina has been a ‘cash culture’ because people couldn’t rely on or trust electronic banking. When the pandemic hit, millions of retirees lined up to receive their monthly pensions, exposing themselves to the virus despite the lockdown. Their choice was stark: risk their lives to go out to the bank or stay home with no money.

The bank and agency took on entrenched cultural habits and the governmental, financial and legal establishment, believed to be impervious to change. Time was of the essence with lives at stake. 

“I feel we broke through the ‘this cannot be done’ mentality. We transformed banking into a more humane service in record time,” said Carolina Belzunce, marketing manager of Itaú. “This innovation normally would have taken years to accept. When we hit obstacles, Grey convinced us that it was worth continuing.”

In less than a month, Itaú and Grey developed a unique home delivery system of microflow transportation and identification verification. Older clients make a phone request and receive their pension in cash at the door. The invention is upending long-held traditions of the Argentine financial system and ushering in new ways of banking across Latin America. 

Diego Medvedocky, president of Grey Argentina and chief creative officer of Grey Latin America, said: “This is not a communications strategy, it is a powerful solution to a business and societal challenge. We’ve changed banking forever, serving seniors and saving lives.”