Airtel Payments Bank, the first payments bank in the country to go LIVE, today announced that it has appointed Dhiraj Sharda as its Chief Digital Officer. Dhiraj will report to Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments Bank.
In his new role, Dhiraj will be responsible for product development, digital delivery and development of digital marketing platforms for Airtel Payments Bank. He will also drive some of the proactive initiatives by Airtel Payments Bank to accelerate the adoption of digital/cashless payments across the country.
Airtel Payments Bank is a fully digital and paperless bank and customers can access services over their mobile phones, including all feature/basic mobile phones. Airtel Payments Bank will develop a nationwide digital payments ecosystem of over 3 million merchant partners that will include small kirana stores, shops and restaurants etc. These merchant partners will accept digital payments for goods and services from Airtel Payments Bank customers over mobile phones.
Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Arora, MD & CEO – Airtel Payments Bank said, “We are pleased to have Dhiraj as part of our leadership team. I am confident that his rich experience will add value to our endeavour to deliver world-class digital banking and payments solutions to every Indian through innovative products. I wish Dhiraj all the very best for his new role and look forward to working with him.â€
Dhiraj brings with him over 15 years of rich work experience with start-ups and large companies in Silicon Valley (USA). Dhiraj joins Airtel Payments Bank from IAC (the parent company of Expedia, Match and Tinder.com), where he was Sr. Director of Product. In the past, he has worked with Prosper, Visa, AT&T, Yahoo and Wipro.
Dhiraj has done his MS from Stanford University, USA and Computer Engineering from Pune University.
