Citibank, Which Promised to Create a 'Non-Face-to-Face Specialized Sales Center'... Turns Out to Be a 'Call Center'?

Citibank Establishes Customer Value Center and Customer Focus Center in 2017
Call Center Duties Added Due to Expiration of Existing Contract Workers
Concerns Raised Over Increased Labor Costs from Workforce Reallocation Without Voluntary Retirement

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] It has been confirmed that Citibank Korea no longer operates its existing call center after introducing a non-face-to-face specialized sales center. This is why there are criticisms that the non-face-to-face specialized sales center has effectively become a call center. There are also concerns that the absence of voluntary retirement and the redistribution of personnel have made employment succession and full acquisition of Citibank Korea more difficult.

According to Citibank Korea on the 4th, calls from customers are currently handled not by a separate call center but by the ‘Customer Value Center’ of the non-face-to-face specialized sales center. Another department, the ‘Customer Focus Center,’ proactively calls customers to introduce loan products. The total number of employees is about 300, and except for some outsourced operations, most were reassigned during the branch consolidation process in 2017.

In April 2017, Citibank Korea announced a consolidation plan to reduce 133 branches to 32 and stated it would introduce a non-face-to-face specialized center. Since over 95% of financial transactions occur non-face-to-face, the blueprint was to provide financial services without visiting branches by using phone, internet, and mobile channels. The plan included assigning about 30 branch manager-level staff and many middle managers at the manager level or higher.

At that time, the labor union strongly opposed, arguing that the non-face-to-face sales center could effectively become a call center. There was concern that personnel who worked at branches would be handling simple tasks typically managed by call centers.

Citibank Korea: "Non-face-to-face Center and Call Center Are Clearly Different"

The union claims that concerns became reality as the existing call center disappeared. A Citibank Korea official hinted, "(After the center was introduced) contracts with call center outsourced workers expired," adding, "Some field personnel who moved to the center after branches closed are effectively handling call center tasks as well."

Citibank Korea maintains that the non-face-to-face specialized sales center and call center are different. While call center staff at other banks handle simple tasks, the non-face-to-face specialized sales center employs personnel with financial experience who provide the same financial services as on-site branches. Brendan Carney, head of the Consumer Finance Group, also claimed when establishing the center, "The newly introduced Customer Focus Center and Customer Value Center are not call centers but expansions into digital channels such as mobile and internet."

There are also criticisms that personnel redistribution without structural reform has worsened labor cost issues. This is because no voluntary retirement was implemented despite the large-scale branch consolidation. According to the bank’s estimate at the time, the average annual salary at the non-face-to-face specialized sales center was about 70 million KRW. A Citibank Korea union official criticized, "Trying to save immediate voluntary retirement costs only increased severance pay," adding, "High-salary personnel have been operated inefficiently."

Citibank Korea, which is withdrawing from the domestic consumer finance sector, had an overall average annual salary of 112 million KRW as of last year. The average employee age is 46.5 years, with an average tenure of 18 years and 3 months. Four financial companies interested in acquisition reportedly expressed concerns about employment succession and full acquisition due to cost issues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.