As head of Korea's largest credit card service provider, Chang is defiant about his firm's global dream and almost sounds patriotic. ``The Republic of Korea is an advanced nation in the credit card industry. Korea should have world-class payment service companies of its own. I think BC Card can take on that role,'' he said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times.

Chang doesn't want the company's slogan, ``Global payment service provider,'' to sound hollow. The partnership with UnionPay in China and DFS in the United States is the first step toward the dream. So far, so good. In only 20 months, the company issued 1.3 million BC-UnionPay cards. The forging of the global network will save commissions both for the firm and its clients.

Chang also stressed the importance of technology and modern marketing techniques, which were relatively neglected in the conservative culture of the credit card industry.

``It is important to know what customers need, but it is more important to know how to create a market with those needs,'' he said. For that, he established a credit card R&D center, for the first time in Korea. The ``Perfume'' and ``Hanji'' cards are examples of clever, practical marketing strategies, as well as a product that glows in the dark.

Chang even made financial regulators fond of his firm. Believing that compliance with regulations is an essential part of business, he has made BC Card one of the most reliable card firms ― the Financial Supervisory Service has rated BC in first place for seven consecutive years in customer satisfaction.