Ex-Alumni Nina Wichstrøm from Oslo writtes about his work experiece after La Salle

Nina Wichstrøm

I currently work as a CRM consultant in Santander Consumer Bank. Santander holds a unique position in international banking, with a solid base of recurrent retail commercial banking and a high degree of geographical diversification, which guarantees its future. With a market value of €92.5bn at year-end 2007, Santander is one of the world’s leading banks by market capitalization and number one in the euro zone. In 2007, the year of its 150th anniversary, the Group achieved record attributed profits of €9.06bn, 19.3% up on 2006. It was also one of the banks that recorded the biggest growth in EPS, with an increase of 21.4% to €1.28. One of the Group’s main distinguishing features is its international character, which is reflected in the diversification of its operations, with a balanced position between mature and high-growth emerging markets. The Bank also has Divisions that operate on a global scale, engaged in the businesses of Wholesale Banking, Means of Payment, Asset Management, Insurance and Private Banking. Santander has built its own business model, which rests on the following pillars: focus on commercial banking through the biggest branch network in international banking (11,178 offices), geographical diversification, prudent risk management, the very latest technology in the service of commercial efficiency, capital discipline and the best management team. This is how the Bank strives to contribute the maximum added value to its over 65 million customers, 2.3 million shareholders and 132,000 employees. My responsibilities at Santander Consumer Bank in the Credit Card division are to analyze our costumer base to gain important information for CRM purposes. Our credit card customer base is app. 223 000 costumers which I am responsible for. My responsibility is to send letters/communications to our costumers for informative reasons as well as sales campaigns. My experience as a former student at La Salle Universities in Barcelona, has given me great understanding for the differences in culture and which opportunities and challenges you face when working with people from other countries. I learned and developed the skill of always being open-minded, patient and thorough in my work, which I have greatly appreciated since I started working.