Reading bank

Unit 1 9,5 out of ten

1 Before you read, check that you know the meaning of the words in the box. Match
them with their definitions (1–7). Use a dictionary if necessary.
adj n n
constricted influx poach rigid transformation tribe window dressing

1 a complete change in someone or something transformation

2 not flexible rigid
3 large quantity of people/things arriving at the same time influx
offensive word 4 group of people with similarities tribe(community, people)
5 try to attract employees from other companies poach
6 attractive but less important than other factors window dressing
7 limiting someone’s freedom to do what they want constricted

2 Read the text and complete the information in the table.

Name Currently works for Role/Title Previously worked for

A Ron Knapp Citi FinTech

1 2
head of technology Amazon

B Max Robert Walters manager at the unknown

Johnson 3
recruitment agency
C Faye director of global unknown
Woodhead 4
Deutsche Bank employer brand and
graduate recruitment

D Elly Deutsche Bank unknown

Hardwick 5 head of innovation

E Carey global chief product 7

eBay
Kolaja 6
Citi FinTech officer 8
PayPal

3 Match the statements (1–5) with the people in Exercise 2 (A–E).

This person:
1 had never considered working for a bank before. E
2 thinks other factors are more important than dress code when recruiting. C
3 points out that banks can now offer more interesting technical roles. D
4 proposed changing the dress code in their job. A
5 believes salary is likely to be the main attraction for tech professionals. B

4 Decide if these statements are true (T) or false (F).

a note
1 Roy Knapp made a formal presentation to his company, asking to wear more informal work
clothes. F
2 Max Johnson states that banks have been looking for established tech professionals for a
very long time.F
3 He thinks that in order to attract tech experts, changes in the formal corporate culture of
banks are necessary. T
banks
4 In Britain, tech industries usually pay higher salaries to new recruits compared to banks. F
5 Recruitment from the tech industry has also benefited existing staff in banks, by introducing
different ways of working. T

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 Reading bank

Banks are on the hunt for tech veterans

When Ron Knapp joined Citigroup’s *FinTech unit as head of technology, he sent a note to his new
managers with a suggestion: ‘Given what we’re trying to achieve, I think I should come in wearing my
boots and jeans.’ với những gì mà chúng tôi đạt được
chuyên gia hàng đầu
Mr Knapp joined Citi FinTech to build a team of technology specialists. He spent sixteen years at
5 Amazon, including working in software development, but now he had joined a tribe which he says will
become increasingly valuable to big banks: established tech professionals.
chuyên gia công nghệ
According to Max Johnson, manager at the recruitment agency Robert Walters, financial institutions
started poaching professionals from the tech world a few years ago. But to convince tech people to
work for them, banks have had to change. ‘Banks have very rigid structures in a corporate lifestyle
10 kind of way,’ Mr Johnson says. ‘These [tech] people want to be creative; they want to be in an
environment that is not constricted.’ Small changes, such as relaxing the dress code, can help. But in
to depend on
the end, Mr Johnson says, it comes down to pay. ‘Banks have had to compete with very competitive
salary structures for tech,’ he says. In the UK, starting salaries for technology roles are higher at banks
than at tech firms.
15 But salary is only one attraction, says Faye Woodhead, one of Deutsche Bank’s recruitment directors.
‘Opportunity and ability to make a difference, be challenged and learn is as important. Dress code may
help, but it is window dressing.’vẻ bề ngoài
Most importantly, banks are offering roles that did not exist in the industry a few years ago, according
to Elly Hardwick, head of innovation at Deutsche Bank. ‘There are so many opportunities in
Công nghệ sổ cái phân tán
20 artificial intelligence, machine learning and distributed ledger technology,’ she says. And banks have
something tech companies do not: financial data.
‘Five years ago, I never thought I would be at a bank,’ says Carey Kolaja, Citi FinTech’s global chief
product officer. Previously, Silicon Valley had been the centre of her professional life after years at
eBay and PayPal. She switched because she wanted a role serving people who did not have access to
25 financial services. ‘It is about the type of problems you can solve at a bank,’ Ms Kolaja says.
to tell the true
The influx of tech professionals means banking staff are developing, too. ‘Exposing internal people
to new ways of doing thingscũng quan trọng kh kém
is just as important,’ Ms Hardwick says. ‘When tech and business sit
together at the table, that is when you get the real culture transformation.’

*FinTech = short for ‘financial technology’; refers to providing financial services by making use of software and modern technology

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