Tech centre of our efforts to transform, scale: Kotak Mahindra Bank MD, CEO

“Technology will be at the centre of our efforts to transform and scale,” Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ashok Vaswani said in its annual report for 2023-24.

Commenting on the recent action by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Vaswani, who took charge of the private sector lender on January 1, 2024, said, “At this stage, it is appropriate to address the recent RBI order.”

He said, “Over the last few years, we had completely embraced the notion that leveraging technology is fundamental to growing the business. Towards this, we had significantly stepped up resources and investments in technology. However, it is evident that we have more to do.” On April 24 this year, the RBI directed the private lender to cease and desist, with immediate effect, from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards.

The banking regulator said that the action was prompted by “significant concerns arising out of Reserve Bank’s IT examination of the bank for the years 2022 and 2023 and the continued failure on part of the bank to address these concerns in a comprehensive and timely manner.”Vaswani said changing customer expectations, the dramatic pace of business growth and the emerging risk landscape have meant that the bank has to move at a much faster pace.

“We are absolutely committed to further enhancing our resources and commitments in this area and I am very confident that collectively, as a team – we will deliver and use this as an opportunity to leapfrog,” he further said. “It is also very clear that technology is going to be at the centre of our efforts to transform and hence, scale”, Vaswani added.

He has acknowledged the efforts of erstwhile MD & CEO of the bank, Uday Kotak, for building an exceptional business, which directed its growth from a bill discounting business to the most diverse financial organisation in the country. He has also credited Kotak for building a strong management team that has been instrumental in the bank’s success over these years.

Vaswani highlighted that the most important stakeholder in the bank are customers. “Every single financial product and service that we provide is a means to an end rather than the end in itself. Hence, making sure that we are there and deliver for the customer on their terms becomes critical,” Vaswani said.

“Getting this right will lead to our customers rewarding us with their loyalty and business. In turn, this approach will help us scale our business and expand market share. We already have a good market share. We will aim to maintain our position while simultaneously driving growth in other business segments,” he added.

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