# Bankers



## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

Curious about something. In 10 years in Mexico (and four cities, Culiacán, Cuajimalpa, Querétaro, and Tlaxcala), I have never encountered a branch banker - the executives who sit at desks, not the tellers in the cajas - who was able or willing to communicate even a little bit in English. I have encountered astronomically more taxi drivers who could and would.

I would have thought that banking executive was a fairly professional, well-educated job, with suits and ties and dresses and all that. But their education level doesn’t actually seem that high. So maybe I have been wrong and this is actually a pretty low-level professional job? I have had hardly any bankers approaching me for English lessons, either (but lots of engineers, accountants, etc).

My new assumption is that if an applicant DID have good English communication skills, s/he could command a much better position elsewhere than “branch banker”.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

PatrickMurtha said:


> Curious about something. In 10 years in Mexico (and four cities, Culiacán, Cuajimalpa, Querétaro, and Tlaxcala), I have never encountered a branch banker - the executives who sit at desks, not the tellers in the cajas - who was able or willing to communicate even a little bit in English. I have encountered astronomically more taxi drivers who could and would.
> 
> I would have thought that banking executive was a fairly professional, well-educated job, with suits and ties and dresses and all that. But their education level doesn’t actually seem that high. So maybe I have been wrong and this is actually a pretty low-level professional job? I have had hardly any bankers approaching me for English lessons, either (but lots of engineers, accountants, etc).
> 
> My new assumption is that if an applicant DID have good English communication skills, s/he could command a much better position elsewhere than “branch banker”.


Funny - I have (walk-in) banking at two different banks in our town. We have very good relationships with those banks (we have very decent balances). In one bank the girl/woman who handles the highest net worth customers had on an outfit recently which made her look like she was either coming from the beach or on her way. She had on a top which revealed her diamond studded belly button. She is not our rep - but apparently she is very fluent in English.

In our other bank we have two account executives who speak excellent English. One girl is so good I am seriously trying to figure out how I can make her an offer to be my 'personal assistant'. My latest thought was to just tell her that if she ever has any issues at the bank / feels uncomfortable in any way - to please contact me and I have a job for her. I haven't quite figured out the logistics of such an arrangement.


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

Three reps who speak English, that is way ahead of me, who has never encountered a single one!

It was an issue for me today because I need a replacement for my debit card, which I absent-mindedly left in an ATM machine yesterday. So I go to the Banorte branch here in Tlaxcala - the account was originally established five years ago when I lived in Querétaro - with my Residente Permanente card, passport, and all the original paperwork from the creation of the account. After the banker diddled around for 90 minutes, he told me he could not issue me a new debit card because he could not “validate my identity”. I have Banorte’s telephone customer service unit working on this, but it is not a happy experience.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Banks here are a little funny in that they really distrust their own employees more than they distrust you.
Apparently - your designated branch is a very important component.
Before you can make any significant change to your account you need to make your most accessible /pleasant branch your new home.
In a nutshell - that really is the key.


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

You need to start every dialog with a smile and a nice greeting (even if you have been waiting hours).

I have never had any dealings with Banorte.
I have had an ATM (at another bank) eat an ATM card and when I went to the bank I was issued an immediate temporary card (without my name).

I think that most educated Mexicans resent the fact that you have not applied your brain into speaking their language. They think - are you stupid ? Spanish is so much easier than English. What is your problem ? I don't think educated intelligent Mexicans in any way feel flustered by their inability to talk to you in English. 

BUT - did you mention earlier that your profession is English / Spanish education ? I'm lost...


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

PatrickMurtha said:


> I have never encountered a branch banker - the executives who sit at desks, not the tellers in the cajas - who was able or willing to communicate even a little bit in English. I have encountered astronomically more taxi drivers who could and would.
> 
> I would have thought that banking executive was a fairly professional, well-educated job, with suits and ties and dresses and all that. But their education level doesn’t actually seem that high.


I don't know what the education level required of a bank manager in Mexico is, but I find your post and attitude bizarre and discriminatory.

Of course it's to a taxi driver's advantage to speak some English, as they often drive tourists around, and it's easy for them to pick up some Engish from their fares and practice it with them.

Why should Mexican bank manager speak English and would you consider a US bank manager to have a lower level of education because he/she didn't speak Spanish?


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

I’ll answer that. It is very difficult to get ahead as a professional in Mexico today without Business English competency. Those who have it can command better positions and higher salaries, and those who don’t are locked out of many companies, jobs, and promotions. My entire private English teaching practice in Querétaro succeeded because of these uncomfortable truths. Adult professionals came to me in a panic, needing to improve their English. And I helped them as best I could.

Spanish does not have anything like the same status in the US, except in certain areas (Miami and El Paso, for example).

English is the international language of business, science, medicine, and let’s face it, just generally. Having it is indeed a requirement for being “well educated” today, ANYWHERE. I didn’t make the rules; I just made a living off them for a decade.

I will add that of course Spanish is a great language to have, because it opens up Latin America, and Spanish + English is a potent combination. BUT, Spanish doesn’t help you in Asia, or Africa, or most of Europe (except for Portugal and Italy, where the languages are similar). French is still more of a GLOBAL language than Spanish is; there are plenty of French speakers, native or acquired, on every continent and in many countries.


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## dvinton (Mar 8, 2019)

Everyone I've dealt with at my bank, including the tellers, speaks very good to excellent English. But, this is in Ajijic, which many in this forum know is rife with ex-pats.


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

Story: One of my students in Querétaro was a guy in his early 40s, working in information technology. He was horribly “flustered” and self-conscious every time he had to speak English, which was increasingly frequently. I worked so hard with him, but unlike most other students, he never improved substantially. He had a mental block. It was frustrating for both of us.

Eventually his company was bought out by an American one, and after a few months he was fired from his managerial job, after 20 years of employment there, because he could not communicate confidently with his new bosses. He has suffered trying to find a new position at his established salary level, and had to leave Querétaro (a very English-focused city) to try his luck elsewhere.

Don’t tell me that English doesn’t matter in Mexico. If there are two otherwise equally qualified candidates for a professional position, and one has good Business English and the other doesn’t, who do you think gets the job? 

If insisting that English is THE international language and a requirement to be “in the game” today, then I guess that makes me an imperialist. I’m pretty hard and unsentimental over this issue.


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

By the way, for those curious: When I taught humanities at Tec Prepa in Culiacán, I was told unequivocally never to use Spanish in the classroom, or to tolerate its use. “That doesn’t help our students.”

As a private teacher of individual adult (mostly), university, and high school students in Querétaro, intermediate and advanced levels (I don’t teach beginner English), I maintained that policy. 100% English immersion. Even if I had had more advanced bilinguality myself (my Spanish reading is much better than my speaking!), I never would have used it in a class setting.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

This thread has gone off the rails and is now closed.


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