Lady bankers need work-life balance, says UOB’s Choo Wan Sim

The flight stewardess turned bank digital head also highlighted the importance of mentors.

Ensuring that workers can balance their careers and family is the best support that banks can offer to advance women’s careers, according to a senior banker from United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB).

“Women play multifaceted roles — a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a BFF,” Choo Wan Sim, head at UOB TMRW Digital, told Asian Banking & Finance. “They take the responsibility in doing everything themselves and want to do everything well.”

There are various work setups at the Singapore-based bank, such as flexible and staggered working hours. An employee could enjoy up to two hours off during a workday each month without having to apply for a leave, and two shorter Friday working hours, she said.

“With three boys and not wanting to miss any of their important milestones, such flexibility allows me to be able to extract myself from work, attend to the children, but thereafter, immediately go back to complete what I have to do,” Choo said in a video interview.

She credits such supportive measures and the presence of women mentors for getting her to land at the top of UOB’s mobile banking arm.

These, along with a dose of what she calls “coincidences,” led her to the path of becoming a banker, said Choo, who used to be a flight attendant.

“I wanted to see the world,” she said of her first career choice. “I wanted to experience life. What I didn't know I will learn is humility. Those few years actually taught me a lot about humility and the values that have stayed with me since then.”

Choo said a woman leader had helped her make the jump to the insurance industry. 

“After three years, I knew that it was time to pay back my parents for the education that they have given me, and it was actually a female leader who gave me the opportunity to join the insurance industry,” she said.

After three more years, her mentor moved to the banking industry, and Choo followed her.

She has since worked in the payment, credit card, and unsecured loan segment of the banking industry. After 10 years, she applied to become the head of UOB’s mobile-only banking arm. “I thought, why not give it a shot?”

She now looks after UOB’s digital business in Singapore and the region, helping it expand the franchise and move offline transactions online, effectively making banking for customers easier.

Her most recent pet project was the rebranding of UOB’s multi-currency product to FX+ from Mighty FX . Choo had to work with various teams from credit cards, wealth, and Treasury to expand the perks under the debit card. 

Choo is confident that the product, which promises no foreign exchange fees when spending worldwide, no-markup and transparent rates for eleven currencies, and cashback for overseas withdrawals can compete with similar fintech products.

Choo said women still have to contend with stereotypes about the roles and strengths of women.

“This misconception sometimes starts as early as education — ‘the boys are stronger in math and science, the girls are stronger in languages and humanities,’” she said.

Choo said the industry has been making significant strides to correct such stereotypes through diverse and inclusive initiatives as well as mentorship programs. 

“The good thing about it is there are also successful women making very significant strides in the leadership roles in the [banking and tech] industries,” she said. “The awareness and importance of gender diversification is also growing.”