President Lee Dong-cheol delivers his inaugural speech at a ceremony held on Jan.2 at the company’s head office in Chong-ro Ward, Seoul.(Photo: KB Card)

President Lee Dong-cheol of KB Card warned that the credit card market is faced with the danger that its core value could be wiped out suddenly under the Competence Destroying Change. He made the remarks at his inaugural speech at a ceremony held on Jan. 2 at the credit card firm’s head office in the Chongro Ward in downtown Seoul.  

He said attendees to remember the value of customers and to hang on to them for the survival of the company.

“We should remember all the time that the customer is the value that won’t change, and realize the survival of KB Card is due to the Great Mission to serve its customers so we will be able to shine under any circumstances by continuing to accept any challenges we face in the future,” the new CEO said.

He praised the collective strength and promotional determination of the company even as the going gets tough. He said they ought to revive the company’s successful DNA, which made KB Card is the top credit card firm in Korea, and unveil to the world a new KB Card after changes were implemented.

He urged everyone working for the company to make efforts to build a “creative and dynamic” organization for detailed execution, enhance competitive power of the company to explore future growth engines, and play leading roles in paving the way for its mother group to grow in line with the digital age. He said those are their three core tasks. 

At the end of his speech, Lee called on the employees to get into the spirit of “Suk-ryo-dan-haeng,” a Chinese proverb roughly translating as “thinking deeply about the action to be taken and execute it in a daring manner to cope with uncertainties in the market in making a new credit card firm out of KB Card, with everyone playing the role of a ‘owner’ in the company.”

President Lee rose up through the ranks of the affiliates of KB Financial Group, including a stint as manager of the Strategic Planning Office of KB Bank, and manager of the banking affiliate’s New York Branch. He was also vice President in charge of the Operation Management of KB Life Insurance, Managing Director for Strategy and Synergy Management for KB Financial Group and Vice President CSO. He passed through so many positions with the group that he is called a “strategy man.”

With his excellent record in such areas as M&As, he is expected to find effective means to reverse the results in the credit card industry and seek new growth engines, even if that means going overseas.