KBC Relay Interview with Michelle Farnsworth (May 24, 2011) - "Shinhan Bank's Adaptable, Adventurous and Creative Window to the International Community in Seoul"

View Michelle's profile on KBC.
 May 24, 2011 - KBC Relay Interview"Shinhan Bank's Adaptable, Adventurous and Creative Window to the International Community in Seoul” Michelle Farnsworth Foreign Client Relationship Manager
Michelle was interviewed by Joshua Davies. (Click here for Joshua's relay interview.)

 

Joshua: Hi Michelle, thanks for making the time today for our next installment of relay interviews.

Michelle: Thanks for inviting me.

Joshua: So, how would you describe Michelle Farnsworth in 3 adjectives?

Michelle: Wow. You are starting with a tough one. I’ll go with adaptable, adventurous, and creative.

Joshua: Could you give us a little background on why?

Michelle: I say I’m adaptable even though that should pretty much go without saying after living in Korea for almost 9 years! I came to Korea to teach English for one year and ended up staying. In that time, I did my MBA at Sejong University. I worked as a beef importer at a Korean company, and as a business development consultant helping foreign companies enter the Korean market. Now, I am the Foreign Client Relationship Manager at the Shinhan Bank Seoul Global Center. You’d have to be pretty adaptable to survive and thrive in my life!

Joshua: Out of curiosity- how does working at a beef importer compare to working at a bank? My only vivid beef importer memory is dining in Jongak tower while the protests were going on and having my mom comment that all the candles filling city hall square looked "pretty."

Michelle: Your mom sounds so sweet. Outsiders looking at those beef protests didn’t know what to think! Working as a beef importer during that time was a real education on Korean culture for me. I didn’t actually go to the protests though. Being the only American beef importer in Korea, if anyone recognized me it could’ve turned into a pretty uncomfortable situation! 

Working as a beef importer was my first in-depth experience in a Korean corporate environment. And as you can imagine, it was eye-opening. I had never aspired to be a beef importer, but the education and insights into the Korean business world were invaluable. I learned a lot about working in a Korean company and all of the expectations and responsibilities that go along with that. But I’m much better suited doing PR and customer relationship management like I’m doing at Shinhan Bank now.

Joshua: That must have been a very interesting experience. And skipping back to the 3 adjectives… your second one was efficient.

Michelle: Yes, I’ve become incredibly effective at multitasking. Working in Korea I think you find that work doesn’t really end at the end of the business day. But, you have to be careful to leave some free time for yourself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with work and social obligations. I have found that being organized and efficient helps me save time and make room to live a balanced life.

Joshua: I hear that! The third adjective you used to describe yourself was creative.

Michelle: Yes! I love finding new and better ways of doing things. I also enjoy writing. For Shinhan, I do a lot of writing about banking and financial advice for foreigners, but I also enjoy writing funny pieces about my life and experiences in Korea.

Joshua: I've got a Shinhan bank account myself...which may or may not be related to it being the nearest bank branch next to my house- but having visited you at SBSGC it's been...refreshing. What do you do there all day?

Michelle:  I am responsible for taking care of our foreign clients, preparing English product and marketing materials, developing and implementing the branch’s marketing campaign, organizing events at the center, attending events on behalf of the center, writing a monthly banking advice column and ensuring that the English-speaking Korean staff meet our service standards. Basically, I am available on the premises to make sure we actually provide the level of service that we promise!

Being a long-term expat myself, I can contribute a lot from my own experience as well as the experiences of all the people I meet who are very happy to share! So I know what we need, and I push to make sure that is what we are delivering.

Joshua: Nice. As an expat what do you think Korea's business/banks need to do to (if anything) to better support a global audience?

Michelle: There is still a long way to go to globalize Korean business and banking. In order for the Korean banking industry to globalize it needs to be more consistent and transparent. We have already seen a lot of progress, but everything takes time.

To address these issues, our global center is running a Facebook page (visit us at “Shinhan Bank  Seoul Global Center”!) that provides clear information in real English on our banking products and services, answers customer questions, and addresses customer complaints. We have found that this is a great way to reach out to our customers and really initiate an open dialogue.

We know that our service isn’t perfect, but we are working on it and we are willing to openly provide consistent information regarding common issues such as international check cards and credit card eligibility requirements. Our customers appreciate that we are approachable and offer straightforward responses and individual, customized assistance and support.

Joshua: Brilliant, and with only the slight hint of propaganda :) That about wraps it up- many thanks for the talk!

Michelle: Thank you as well- hope to see you at a future KBC event. I’ll be at the Entrepreneur event on June 17th. Wouldn’t miss it!

Joshua: Yes, I hope so too- and a quick reminder to anyone reading this- feel free to ask Michelle questions in the comments below- she's promised to give her best shot at answering them.

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Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 29, 2011 at 10:41pm

Great insight Michelle,

It's amazing how well we can transition from one industry to another, at the end of the day business is business, just the product changes...probably feels good now to be able to treat customers not as pieces of meat (pardon the pun)... :)

great work...

 

Other the usual foreign client issues, internet banking access, credit approvals etc which I'm sure almost all of us have been through during our time in Korea, what would be the most challenging customer issue you have come across during your time at Shinhan?  

 

Permalink Reply by Eun-Shil Park on May 29, 2011 at 11:35pm
@Greg: My personal experiences with korean banks are horrible...no english spoken personnel, let you wait for hours, horrible acces to internetbanking etc etc. How's both to you your experiences with banking as a CLIENT??
Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 30, 2011 at 7:32am

At the time I thought Korean banking was real difficult, however, when I think back it was only a few things like internet banking that made things tough, but once I understood the issues like only using Internet Explorer and downloading security programs etc which is a security measure stipulated by the government not the banks it wasn't so bad.

What made my life a bit easier was I did my homework before setting up my accounts, looking at a number of local banks. At that time, KEB was the only bank with a Foreign VIP service with everything in English so it was reasonably painless. It's good to hear from Michelle that the other banks are doing this now. I had far less problems than many people I know which to this day, still cannot get Internet Banking to work.

It's all relative, it was no more difficult than setting up banking from scratch in other countries. My experience in the US was far worse, and they kind of speak English, kind of... :)  their banking system is very fragmented and regionalized and very much driven on credit history and if you don't have that, you are a no-body.

I think we all forget that in our home countries we have built up a banking profile over many years, in Australia as a child in Kindergarten we set up a kids saving's accounts. So over the number of years, we forget about all the specific steps involved to get where we are today...when we move to a new country we typically are trying to set up everything in a month so it can seem very trying. 

 

Permalink Reply by Michelle Farnsworth on May 30, 2011 at 9:31am

Thanks for your comments Greg,

You already mentioned the two subjects that probably cause the most confusion: internet banking and credit cards. But there are several other recurring issues too.

1. Joint Accounts: Most people don't know that there are no "joint accounts" in Korea. Each account must be opened in only one person's name. Of course, we can issue a family check card to your spouse, but your spouse's access to the account is limited to what he or she can do with that check card. S/he could withdraw money at an ATM and make purchases at merchants with the card, but could not send money overseas from that account or cancel that account. This presents some challenges to married couples who are used to sharing a joint account back home.

2. Foreign Transaction Limits: We also receive a lot of inquiries about the limits on sending money overseas. You can send $50,000 USD per year overseas with basucally no questions asked. It is also possible to send more than this, but you will first need to prove the source of funds to the Bank of Korea or the National Tax Service.

3. Loans: Loans are another issue. As a foreigner, it is possible to get a mortgage loan (using a house or apartment as collaterol) in Korea, but a credit loan is much more difficult. Like you mentioned below, in our home countries we have spent years building up our credit history and it's STILL not easy to get a loan.

4. International Check Cards: Some banks will just issue a domestic use card if you don't ask specifically for an international one. Anyone with a valid passport and Alien Registration Card can get an international check card at Shinhan Bank.

I think that's enough for now!

Michelle

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 30, 2011 at 9:46am

Wow, I didn't know about the first one, Joint Accounts...probably as I didn't try to get one...

I'm sure that's a tough one to explain to people new to Korea. I'm sure many foreign wives would be very upset about that and I'm sure many husbands would get an ear-full over that as well..not that I'm generalizing of course... :)

Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on May 30, 2011 at 3:56pm

It's actually a GOOD thing (as the foreign wife of a Korean man) ...it helps keep our savings untouched & creates the perception that he's the "sole provider" (which he LOVES being as an old-school Korean man):

His account pays for EVERYTHING (the bills & anything either of us buys), while mine is the savings account (no, he has no spouse card access to my accounts, however I have a card for his ^.^)

...and the wives of foreigners who re-locate here for work could always be the holder of the designated automatic payroll deposit account if it's that much of an issue ^.^

Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 30, 2011 at 4:12pm

Actually I think the old way of doing it in Korea (it was in Japan) was the husband would hand over the whole pay packet to the wife and then the wife would hand out pocket money...which lead to him setting up separate accounts for extra curricular activities so to speak.. but I was not thinking of anything sinister before, but there is always that perceived problem of course..

It was more about how do you create monetary equality of both parties in a marriage plus build up a good credit history if total spenditure is not associated with your name?

Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on May 30, 2011 at 4:52pm
That's not the "old way", Greg. It's still the way things are done in Korea most of the time.
Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 30, 2011 at 5:30pm
I was still trying to be polite...I was pretty sure that it was still the way, but was hedging my bets.. :) But I'm guessing that this is changing with younger generations.
Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on May 30, 2011 at 6:01pm
Maybe a little, but I bet that outside certain circles of progressive thinkers in Seoul, it's still the norm and will be for awhile yet.
Permalink Reply by GREG SHEEN on May 30, 2011 at 6:20pm
I'm sure it will, old habits are usually slow to die...
Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on May 30, 2011 at 6:39pm

you've got that right ^.~

 

The system YB & I use is about as close as I'm willing to go towards him simply handing over everything to me.  In our first month  of marriage, we actually had a fight over this:  he was adamant that he should send it ALL to me & that I should deal with managing it.  I laughed -I was certain he was kidding & so I started making jabs ^.^ (unfortunately, he wasn't kidding). Everything escalated from there ...I "won" in the end, but only after I "caved" and he ended up having to help me navigate a few Korean-language only websites in an atempt to get everything set up (4 hours & LOTS of Korean expletives & several packages of cigarettes) ...I think I almost died that day as he kept running into brickwalls due to my name & foreign id number ^.~ (I'm pretty sure that all of those issues have been fixed over the past 5 years).  Anyhow, that's when we came up with the "all expenses come out of his account & all savings go into my account" compromise.

 

I suspect that as soon as he sees that I can handle financial stuff quicker & easier than he can (i.e.: once my vocabulary gets to where it needs to be & he witnesses me demonstrating it), we'll be doing things the "old"fashioned way ^.~

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