Barclaycard’s New Managing Director Tom Karinshak Stays Focused on His Customer

Making the leap from a media giant to a credit card company didn't require a change in philosophy for Tom Karinshak, who recently joined Barclaycard US (Wilmington, Del.) as managing director, customer care and bank operations. His job still is to put the customer first, he says.

Karinshak brings with him eight years of experience at AOL-Time Warner (New York), most recently as SVP of customer management. In his new role, he will create Barclaycard's overall strategy and lead the execution of customer care and bank operations, including driving customer satisfaction and loyalty, call center operations, and working with the firm's partners in delivering customer service.

Karinshak says that his top priority is to provide best-in-class service to all 4 million of the institution's cardholders. "We continuously look for ways to improve operational efficiencies and position the business for continued growth," he says.

Technology will facilitate those goals, Karinshak notes, adding that he hopes to deploy solutions to compile real-time feedback from card members. "We have the technology to automatically survey customers after [they contact] our call centers, for example, and we have implemented intelligent routing to direct callers appropriately and effectively," he explains. "We are also evaluating new ways to enhance our interactive voice response system."