Given Your Individual Background, Why Are You Pursuing a Columbia Mba at This Time
‘What’s in your wallet’ were the words I was greeted with at the immigration counter of JFK airport seeing CapitalOne on my work visa. I realized how impactful my work can be given that I have the potential to reach every wallet. I wanted to learn the fundamentals of the industry by working across different products, functionalities and geographies. So I took responsibilities that varied from developing subprime customer acquisition strategies at Capital One, creating loss mitigation strategies for delinquent European customers at Barclays and maximizing customer engagement for retail credit card customers at HSBC. I was promoted; my responsibilities were expanded to encompass ownership of portfolios and provided with a team to increase the output. During this time the eruption of subprime mortgage crisis brought more regulatory attention towards credit cards. The result was ‘Credit card accountability responsibility and disclosure’ (CARD) act of 2009.
My work proved multiple times that having customer friendly practices may lower short term gains but in the long term it pays off. For example at Barclays sending SMS to customers reminding them of their due date lowered our late fee revenue but increased customer engagement more than paid for it. At HSBC lowering the interest rate meant we lost part of our interest revenue but lowered default rate compensated for it. My extensive experience spanning geographies and products combined with the minimal financial impact of CARD act have cemented my belief that customer friendly practices are a win-win proposition. I want to ‘change credit cards for good’. I want the next wave of changes to come from within the industry and not dictated by the government.
My work experience thus far enables me with the right skill set and knowledge to influence the broader industry and financial services consulting will provide me the required platform. Currently every major bank has some sort of best practices for their customers.
My work proved multiple times that having customer friendly practices may lower short term gains but in the long term it pays off. For example at Barclays sending SMS to customers reminding them of their due date lowered our late fee revenue but increased customer engagement more than paid for it. At HSBC lowering the interest rate meant we lost part of our interest revenue but lowered default rate compensated for it. My extensive experience spanning geographies and products combined with the minimal financial impact of CARD act have cemented my belief that customer friendly practices are a win-win proposition. I want to ‘change credit cards for good’. I want the next wave of changes to come from within the industry and not dictated by the government.
My work experience thus far enables me with the right skill set and knowledge to influence the broader industry and financial services consulting will provide me the required platform. Currently every major bank has some sort of best practices for their customers.