Shinhan Bank has once again been picked as the best among Korea’s major commercial breaks in terms of customer satisfaction.

Last week, Shinhan was selected as the No. 1 bank in the Korean Standard-Service Quality Index for 2011, grabbing the title for the 10th consecutive year.

Of particular note was the bank’s new “Service Capability Level” system, designed to enhance the staff’s customer-oriented mindset. The system was added under the initiative of CEO Suh Jin-won, who took office early this year.

Suh has emphasized that he would become a “smart influencer,” inducing a change in the bank’s staff and making the most of their potential.

“In a bid to provide our employees with best opportunities, I’m seeking to reshuffle the personnel system,” he said. “I will entrust the staffers with authority in a variety of areas on the basis of my full confidence in them.”

He cited several plans for the coming shake-up to improve the personnel system, saying the bank is considering a program to cultivate highly skilled female leaders and another for specialists in charge of the private banking sector.

The bank is also aiming to secure the No. 1 position in three business sectors ― asset management, blue-chip assets and retirement pensions, he said.

Under his customer-oriented management policies Shinhan has been diversifying its financial products.

Its couple-customized products offer higher interest rates for those who register as couples through the lender’s smartphone application.

Shinhan has released the “Couple Savings Account” and the “Couple Installment Account” to better cope with the younger generations’ lifestyles.

The Couple Savings Account offers an additional 0.3 percentage points over the usual interest rate.

The Couple Installment Account provides up to 4.5 percent in interest to those who deposit savings between 5 million won to 10 million won.

Customers also can enjoy downloading the “Shinhan S Bank” application from app stores to access these services.

Shinhan is also hosting a couple photo contest through Friday to promote the new services. Customers will receive presents such as couple rings and gift certificates for amusement parks when they enter.

It also provided customers with free coffee gift cards to 7,000 customers who downloaded the app on a first-come first-served basis last month.

“We introduced the smartphone-related product as younger customers purchased the handsets,” a Shinhan spokesman said. “We focused on encouraging cordial relationships between people. We will continually develop products to meet the new needs of customers.”

Shinhan Bank has been named the Best Domestic Bank in Korea this year by Asiamoney, a regional finance magazine based in Hong Kong.

The bank, as the flagship unit of Shinhan Financial Group, has now won this award for the sixth consecutive year. The magazine highly evaluated Shinhan’s management indices and risk-management skills, a bank spokesman said.

Shinhan has been striving to make the lender one of the top 10 commercial banks in Asia and No. 1 in Korea within four years.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)