For Ratan Kumar Kesh, Executive Director and COO of private lender Bandhan Bank, his current stint has turned out to be unexpectedly fulfilling. A career banker with nearly three decades of leadership experience across institutions such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, YES Bank, and Axis Bank, Kesh says Bandhan’s mission has given his role a very different meaning.
“At Bandhan, we have two responsibilities. The first is financial inclusion, which is bringing customers into the formal banking system so that they can use banking channels instead of keeping money under their pillows. But the second responsibility is to go beyond financial inclusion,” says Kesh.
He points out that with more than 560 million Jan Dhan accounts, the government has already made significant progress in bringing millions into the formal banking fold. But for Bandhan, the larger objective lies in what comes next.
“Our endeavour is really about financial empowerment. How do you give a customer a small Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 loan and empower them to generate income, employ two more people, and continue growing? How does that same customer manage their household better and lead a healthier, happier life? That is financial empowerment,” Kesh says.
At the same time, he adds, the responsibility of a bank cannot end with expanding access to credit. “We also have to manage underwriting and credit risk carefully. The idea is to empower the right customer without taking undue risks that could eventually lead to losses,” he says.
At Bandhan Bank, Kesh has been the Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer since March 31, 2023. He served as Interim MD & CEO from July 10, 2024, to October 31, 2024—during the transition phase when former MD & CEO and the founder of the bank, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, retired at the end of his tenure.
Kesh’s experience reflects Bandhan Bank’s journey from a microfinance institution to a universal bank, which has not merely been about scale. It has been about fundamentally reimagining what kind of institution it wants to become.
According to Kesh, the transformation has revolved around three critical dimensions. This includes de-risking the lending portfolio, building a more granular deposit base, and expanding from a predominantly Eastern India-focused institution into a truly pan-India bank. None of this, he says, would have been possible without technology becoming central to the bank’s strategy.
When Bandhan received its universal banking licence in 2014, the institution remained heavily dependent on microfinance lending, with nearly three-fourths of its portfolio comprising unsecured loans. Even as deposits grew rapidly over the years, the liability franchise still carried a sizable bulk deposit component. At the same time, geographical concentration remained a challenge. To address all three areas simultaneously, Bandhan embarked on an extensive technology transformation exercise.
The objective was not simply modernisation for the sake of it. A universal bank requires the ability to launch and service multiple products across customer categories. This includes everything from retail loans, corporate lending, housing finance, current accounts, affluent banking, women-focused products, senior citizen offerings, and eventually even credit cards. That, Kesh argues, demands a far more flexible technology architecture.
The technology overhaul extends well beyond customer convenience. Governance, compliance, and operational guardrails have become equally critical. With a workforce of nearly 75,000 to 80,000 employees, Kesh believes it is impossible to rely solely on manual controls. Instead, governance frameworks must be embedded directly into technology systems to reduce operational errors and strengthen compliance adherence.
