Weird bank story.
I went to the bank recently for a handful of administrative tasks and my husband came to help interpret. The banking terminology is above my Korean level so I missed most of what was said. Apparently while we were there, the bank employee who was helping us asked if I would open a credit card because her performance has been low and it would help her a lot, and that I could just cancel it after a couple of months. My husband agreed and I signed the papers and ended up opening a credit card completely without my knowledge until the card arrived in the mail. I thought it was strange when at the bank they had me setting up online banking passwords again and I even mentioned while there that I’ve already set up online banking, but was ignored by everyone so I just trusted the process and did what they told me.
First, I was absolutely shocked that my husband didn’t tell me. He was ultimately in the wrong here and we had a big fight about it, but his explanation was that this is really normal in Korea and he was worried about translating everything quickly on the spot. Since she helped us a lot he just went along with it to help her out also and he doubled down that the credit card won’t impact anything and we can just cancel. He said this is super normal in Korea. I was so shocked to hear this attitude, because the employee didn’t “help us.” She did her job and I certainly don’t owe her anything by opening a new credit card account.
Separately, I think the employee asking for a personal favor like this is extremely strange and unprofessional. If she had given a regular sales pitch about their credit card offers and shown me the benefits, I might have become a real customer. But to guilt customers into signing up for a financial product they don’t need and not giving any disclosures or details about the card is just wild. It’s also asking customers who help falsely inflate her performance metrics. It also made me feel like I wasn’t viewed as someone who would be a legitimate credit card customer since she jumped to “hey just sign up for this and cancel in a couple of months,” instead of “are you interested in any of our credit card programs?”
I used to work in financial services regulation in the US, so maybe I’m extra sensitive about this, but I never thought I’d find myself in a situation where I ended up opening a credit card without realizing it. I strongly considered complaining to the bank, but ultimately decided to just cancel.
Is this really normal in Korea?