Using Tech To Promote Banking
Finance professional Shanti Ekambaram has donned many hats. For 11 long years, till 2014, she presided over the corporate and investment functions of Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), overseeing advisory and financial solutions to Indian corporate bodies, multinationals and the government. Her new position now is the head of KMB’s consumer-banking business.
The bank has, for some time now, been focusing on the retail segment, spearheaded, of course, by Ekambaram. Instrumental in launching a digital initiative to take banking to the unbanked and to drive financial inclusion, she launched one of the most comprehensive digital products in Indian banking, that is, the 811 account.
This full-service digital banking ecosystem can be activated with an Aadhaar-based OTP to authenticate the process of opening a savings account on a cell phone. 811 has been specially designed for simplicity and ease of use, to appeal to a wide range of users. It offers a zero-balance savings account with zero charges for all digital transactions, where customers can earn up to 6 per cent p.a. on their savings-account balances, besides, obviously, hundreds of other transaction capabilities.
Ekambaram also sits on the executive board, which oversees and drives Kotak Mahindra Group’s growth charter. As part of the group for over 26 years, she has been responsible for successfully setting up and running several of its business units.
Under her stewardship as executive director and CEO of Kotak Investment Bank, the firm was steered to a leading market position. She pioneered the first book-built IPO offering in India, which brought about a sea-change in the Indian capital markets, raising the bar of the IPO market and pushed it up on par with global best practices.
Apart from being an avid banker, Ekabaram is also quite the philanthropist and has been supporting several NGOs. At the Mumbai Marathon 2017, she raised the most funds for SOPAN (Society of Parents of children with Autistic Disorders).
At KMB, Ekambaram has one of the more important roles as the bank continues to emphasise retail banking. For the bank, on the formalisation of the Indian economy, the financial sector is expected to see greater inflows across savings and investments. And Ekambaram is at the forefront of that change.
