Airtel Payments Bank appoints Anubrata Biswas of ICICI Bank as CEO
Airtel Payments Bank on Thursday said it has appointed Anubrata Biswas as its Managing Director & CEO. Biswas, who has a rich experience in banking sector, was associated with ICICI Bank during his last stint where here worked for 17 years. Commenting on the appointment, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Airtel Payments Bank said: “We are delighted to have Anubrata on board. I am confident that his experience will add immense value to the bank’s agenda of financial inclusion and digital leadership. I wish him the very best for his new assignment.” Anubrata has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Jadavpur University and did his PGDBM from IIM, Ahmedabad.
The last Airtel Payments Bank Managing Director and CEO Shashi Arora had quit company previous December after nearly a 12-year stint with the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel group. It was not clear if Arora’s resignation was linked to the Aadhaar issue reported last year, in which UIDAI temporarily barred the company from carrying out e-KYC’s of customers. The company spokesperson had then confirmed that Shashi Arora resigned to pursue opportunities outside the group.
As per the allegations, the company was using the Aadhaar-eKYC based SIM verification process to open payments bank accounts of its subscribers without their ‘informed consent’. However, the company had claimed no wrongdoing. It had said no bank account was opened without the consent of the customers and additional safeguards were in place.