SMFG India Credit
Our Leadership Team
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Ravi Narayanan is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SMFG India Credit Co. Ltd.
Ravi brings over three decades of leadership experience in India’s banking and financial services sector, with a proven track record of scaling businesses, driving strategic transformation, and building high-performing teams. An alumnus of IIT (BHU) Varanasi and FMS Delhi, he combines deep technical expertise with strong commercial acumen.
Before taking the helm at SMFG India Credit, Ravi served as Group Executive – Retail at Axis Bank, leading a network of 5,500 branches and 58,000 employees. He was instrumental in launching the Burgundy Private wealth management platform, expanding the bank’s NRI portfolio, and strengthening its international presence through operations in the UAE. His leadership extended to governance roles as nominee director on the boards of Axis Securities and Axis Mutual Fund.
Previously, at HDFC Bank, Ravi held multiple leadership positions across two decades, including Group Head of Branch Banking, overseeing 950 branches and a ₹1.1 trillion liabilities book. He also led the Retail Trade FX business, delivering ₹1,000 crore in annual income and making a significant contribution to the bank’s treasury revenue. Earlier roles included heading merchant acquiring, cash management, and current accounts, where he built scalable businesses from the ground up.
Chief Strategy and Execution Officer
Mr. Ravindra Rao is the Chief Strategy and Execution Officer at SMFG India Credit, where he drives enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, organizational effectiveness, and governance across key business functions. He leads the Corporate Strategy and Collections verticals, anchoring the company’s long-term growth and execution agenda.
With over three decades of experience across leading banks, NBFCs, housing finance companies, and asset reconstruction platforms, Ravindra brings deep expertise in retail lending, credit, collections, and large-scale business transformation. Before joining SMFG India Credit, he served as Head of Consumer Lending and earlier Head of Credit & Collections at Axis Bank, overseeing diverse retail lending portfolios. He has also been the Chief Credit Officer at CSB Bank.
Ravindra has held multiple CEO and Executive Director roles, including ED & CEO of Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company, where he led strategic turnaround and portfolio expansion, and CEO of SMFG India Home Finance Company, where he was a founding leadership member driving early-stage growth and governance. Ravi combines strong analytical rigour with decisive, execution focused leadership—bringing a proven ability to scale businesses, strengthen credit governance, and deliver transformational outcomes.
Chief Business Officer
Mr. Ajay Pareek is the Chief Business Officer of SMFG India Credit. He is responsible for product and sales across Urban, Rural and Digital businesses as well as Supply Chain Finance and Third-party products.
Ajay has more than 24 years of experience in the financial services sector. He had a very successful stint of over 13 years as the Head of Urban Business at SMFG India Credit. During his tenure, he was responsible for designing the product strategy, setting up the secured and the unsecured businesses, expanding the branch network, and made significant contributions towards tapping the potential of emerging markets, third-party products, and more. He has also worked with Aditya Birla Finance Ltd., Jana Small Finance Bank, CitiFinancial Consumer Finance India ltd. and A. F. Fergusons & Co. In his career, he has been responsible for business planning, sales & distribution, launching new products & processes, credit underwriting, collections, product strategy and setting-up and running large distribution networks.
He is a Chartered Accountant and a Harvard SELPI alumnus.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Pankaj Malik is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at SMFG India Credit. His responsibilities include financial planning & accounting, taxation, company secretarial, corporate governance, and treasury functions.
Pankaj has over 25 years of experience and has worked in various capacities across finance & allied functions. Prior to joining SMFG India Credit, Pankaj was associated with COLT Telecom, an affiliate of Fidelity international. As their Financial Controller and Company Secretary, he was instrumental in setting up their India operations. In his earlier stints, he was associated with GE Commercial Financial and Motherson Sumi Systems Limited in various capacities.
Pankaj is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost Accountant and Certified Public Accountant from the State of Colorado, USA.
Group Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Srinivasan Balachander is the Group Chief Compliance Officer of SMFG India Credit.
In over 3 decades of experience in Banking, he has held various roles, mainly in the Compliance function. He had a successful stint as Chief Compliance Officer at SMFG India Credit where he managed Compliance risk for both legal entities, SMICC & SMHFC. In his previous stint at Union Bank of India he managed Inter Departmental co-ordination for compliance issues, risk-assessment, testing, risk mitigants, monitoring & resolution. He has worked with Bandhan Bank & Axis Bank as Chief Compliance Officer, where he successfully managed Compliance Risk for the banks. He has also worked with organizations such as Global Trust Bank & The Vysya Bank.
He holds a PG Diploma degree in Business Data processing from Bharathidasan University.
Head of Internal Audit
Mr. Sanjeeb Kumar Prusti serves as the Head of Internal Audit at SMFG India Credit, where he spearheads the organization's audit function. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall implementation of risk based internal audit and provides vital assurance to the Audit Committee / Board and its senior management regarding the quality and effectiveness of the entity’s internal control, risk management and governance framework.
With a Chartered Accountancy background, Sanjeeb boasts a wealth of experience exceeding 20+ years in the realms of audit and risk management. His professional journey led him through pivotal roles at Citibank. During his impressive 17-year tenure at Citibank, Sanjeeb undertook key roles across all lines of defence, including internal audit, operational and emerging risk management, spanning various business lines such as retail branches, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and other asset products. He also contributed towards strengthening mid-office functions like Treasury, Finance, and Operations, leaving an indelible mark. He spearheaded crucial projects related to GRC tool implementation and Regulatory Inventory, gaining invaluable insights into the Consumer business as a whole.
His leadership extended seamlessly to managing inherent and residual risks within the Consumer business, with a specific focus on the 1st line of defence coverage for business lines like retail branches, ATMs, Digital Banking, and surveillance for Wealth Management, encompassing Investment and Insurance Products, as well as related support functions. He later joined Axis Bank following Axis Bank's acquisition of Citibank's India consumer business earlier this year.
Notably, he was instrumental in leading the project management office for the transition of Citibank's consumer business divestiture to Axis Bank. Sanjeeb's illustrious career also includes stints at HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, where he contributed his expertise in Audit, Compliance, and Branch Operations.
Chief Risk Officer
Mr. Bikramjit Ganguly is the Chief Risk Officer at SMFG India Credit, bringing over 21 years of diverse leadership experience across Risk Policy, Data Analytics, AI/ML, Digital Innovation, and Technology in the financial services sector. His expertise spans risk management, digital transformation, customer experience, and the strategic application of advanced analytics to drive risk intelligence and business growth.
Prior to joining SMFG India Credit, Bikramjit served as Executive Director & Country Head – Data Chapter & Transformation at DBS Bank India, where he led enterprise-wide data science and transformation initiatives. His work included pioneering GenAI-driven automation, instant algorithmic lending, and hyper-personalised digital banking experiences. He also led initiatives to optimise omnichannel engagement and enhance customer journeys across all touchpoints.
In his earlier stint at SMFG India Credit, Bikramjit held the position of Chief Information & Digital Officer. He established the Analytics and Information Management functions and led enterprise IT, enabling data-driven decision-making across risk, business development, and distribution.
His previous roles include Head of Risk Analytics for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank and Analytics Delivery Leader at FICO India, where he was responsible for managing large-scale analytics programs and developing risk models for regulated markets.
Bikramjit holds a Master's degree in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and has completed the Executive Leadership Program in Digital Business Leadership from Columbia Business School, New York.
Chief Credit Officer
Mr. Ashish Powle is the Chief Credit Officer at SMFG India Credit, where he leads the organisation’s credit underwriting management across Retail, MSME, Rural, and Digital lending portfolios.
He brings over 27 years of rich experience in credit underwriting, credit and fraud risk management and operations predominantly in Retail, MSME, Rural and Digital lending segments. He held senior leadership positions across different types of leading financial institutions viz. Banks, NBFCs and DFI. Before joining SMFG India Credit in 2024, Ashish served as Head, Credit Risk (Retail, MSME, Rural & Digital) at Bank of Baroda, where he was responsible for end to end credit risk and portfolio governance across multiple business lines. Prior to this, he held key role at HDFC Bank as SVP – Head Credit Risk for Retail Commercial & SME. He spent around a decade at Axis Bank in various leadership positions managing credit policy and underwriting. One of his earlier key experiences includes credit / fraud risk management and operations at L&T Finance where he contributed significantly to strengthen underwriting standards and scaling retail credit portfolios by creating and deploying analytics led digital platforms.
Ashish is a Chartered Accountant and also holds a CAIIB certification from the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance. His educational background and extensive diverse experience in retail lending space have equipped him with deep functional expertise in credit underwriting, credit policy management, risk analytics and portfolio steering.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Mr. Gaurav Terdal is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at SMFG India Credit, responsible for driving strategic HR & CSR leadership, shaping people strategy, and enhancing organisational culture and employee experience across the company.
With over 21 years of cross-industry experience spanning financial services, manufacturing, and the automobile sector, he brings a rare blend of business acumen and people insight across Compensation, Talent, HR Technology, and Organisation Effectiveness. Gaurav has been associated with SMFG India Credit across multiple stints, honing a holistic understanding of the organisation’s culture, workforce needs, and people processes. Before rising to the CHRO role, he served as Head - HR Operations, Compensation & Governance, where he played a pivotal role in strengthening HR systems, governance frameworks, shared services, and enterprise HR technologies.
Prior to this, his leadership roles at Tyger Capital and Volvo Auto India sharpened his ability to design agile, growth‑aligned HR frameworks and lead organisations through complex transitions with steadiness and strategic depth.
An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Gaurav’s academic grounding amplifies his sharp judgement, structural thinking, and instinct for organisational design—enabling him to navigate complexity, uplift leadership effectiveness, and drive people‑led transformation with authority, empathy, and an unwavering focus on long‑term value creation.
Chief Strategy and Execution Officer
Mr. Ravindra Rao is the Chief Strategy and Execution Officer at SMFG India Credit, where he drives enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, organizational effectiveness, and governance across key business functions. He leads the Corporate Strategy and Collections verticals, anchoring the company’s long-term growth and execution agenda.
With over three decades of experience across leading banks, NBFCs, housing finance companies, and asset reconstruction platforms, Ravindra brings deep expertise in retail lending, credit, collections, and large-scale business transformation. Before joining SMFG India Credit, he served as Head of Consumer Lending and earlier Head of Credit & Collections at Axis Bank, overseeing diverse retail lending portfolios. He has also been the Chief Credit Officer at CSB Bank.
Ravindra has held multiple CEO and Executive Director roles, including ED & CEO of Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company, where he led strategic turnaround and portfolio expansion, and CEO of SMFG India Home Finance Company, where he was a founding leadership member driving early-stage growth and governance. Ravi combines strong analytical rigour with decisive, execution focused leadership—bringing a proven ability to scale businesses, strengthen credit governance, and deliver transformational outcomes.
Chief Business Officer
Mr. Ajay Pareek is the Chief Business Officer of SMFG India Credit. He is responsible for product and sales across Urban, Rural and Digital businesses as well as Supply Chain Finance and Third-party products.
Ajay has more than 24 years of experience in the financial services sector. He had a very successful stint of over 13 years as the Head of Urban Business at SMFG India Credit. During his tenure, he was responsible for designing the product strategy, setting up the secured and the unsecured businesses, expanding the branch network, and made significant contributions towards tapping the potential of emerging markets, third-party products, and more. He has also worked with Aditya Birla Finance Ltd., Jana Small Finance Bank, CitiFinancial Consumer Finance India ltd. and A. F. Fergusons & Co. In his career, he has been responsible for business planning, sales & distribution, launching new products & processes, credit underwriting, collections, product strategy and setting-up and running large distribution networks.
He is a Chartered Accountant and a Harvard SELPI alumnus.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Pankaj Malik is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at SMFG India Credit. His responsibilities include financial planning & accounting, taxation, company secretarial, corporate governance, and treasury functions.
Pankaj has over 25 years of experience and has worked in various capacities across finance & allied functions. Prior to joining SMFG India Credit, Pankaj was associated with COLT Telecom, an affiliate of Fidelity international. As their Financial Controller and Company Secretary, he was instrumental in setting up their India operations. In his earlier stints, he was associated with GE Commercial Financial and Motherson Sumi Systems Limited in various capacities.
Pankaj is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost Accountant and Certified Public Accountant from the State of Colorado, USA.
Group Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Srinivasan Balachander is the Group Chief Compliance Officer of SMFG India Credit.
In over 3 decades of experience in Banking, he has held various roles, mainly in the Compliance function. He had a successful stint as Chief Compliance Officer at SMFG India Credit where he managed Compliance risk for both legal entities, SMICC & SMHFC. In his previous stint at Union Bank of India he managed Inter Departmental co-ordination for compliance issues, risk-assessment, testing, risk mitigants, monitoring & resolution. He has worked with Bandhan Bank & Axis Bank as Chief Compliance Officer, where he successfully managed Compliance Risk for the banks. He has also worked with organizations such as Global Trust Bank & The Vysya Bank.
He holds a PG Diploma degree in Business Data processing from Bharathidasan University.
Head of Internal Audit
Mr. Sanjeeb Kumar Prusti serves as the Head of Internal Audit at SMFG India Credit, where he spearheads the organization's audit function. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall implementation of risk based internal audit and provides vital assurance to the Audit Committee / Board and its senior management regarding the quality and effectiveness of the entity’s internal control, risk management and governance framework.
With a Chartered Accountancy background, Sanjeeb boasts a wealth of experience exceeding 20+ years in the realms of audit and risk management. His professional journey led him through pivotal roles at Citibank. During his impressive 17-year tenure at Citibank, Sanjeeb undertook key roles across all lines of defence, including internal audit, operational and emerging risk management, spanning various business lines such as retail branches, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and other asset products. He also contributed towards strengthening mid-office functions like Treasury, Finance, and Operations, leaving an indelible mark. He spearheaded crucial projects related to GRC tool implementation and Regulatory Inventory, gaining invaluable insights into the Consumer business as a whole.
His leadership extended seamlessly to managing inherent and residual risks within the Consumer business, with a specific focus on the 1st line of defence coverage for business lines like retail branches, ATMs, Digital Banking, and surveillance for Wealth Management, encompassing Investment and Insurance Products, as well as related support functions. He later joined Axis Bank following Axis Bank's acquisition of Citibank's India consumer business earlier this year.
Notably, he was instrumental in leading the project management office for the transition of Citibank's consumer business divestiture to Axis Bank. Sanjeeb's illustrious career also includes stints at HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, where he contributed his expertise in Audit, Compliance, and Branch Operations.
Chief Risk Officer
Mr. Bikramjit Ganguly is the Chief Risk Officer at SMFG India Credit, bringing over 21 years of diverse leadership experience across Risk Policy, Data Analytics, AI/ML, Digital Innovation, and Technology in the financial services sector. His expertise spans risk management, digital transformation, customer experience, and the strategic application of advanced analytics to drive risk intelligence and business growth.
Prior to joining SMFG India Credit, Bikramjit served as Executive Director & Country Head – Data Chapter & Transformation at DBS Bank India, where he led enterprise-wide data science and transformation initiatives. His work included pioneering GenAI-driven automation, instant algorithmic lending, and hyper-personalised digital banking experiences. He also led initiatives to optimise omnichannel engagement and enhance customer journeys across all touchpoints.
In his earlier stint at SMFG India Credit, Bikramjit held the position of Chief Information & Digital Officer. He established the Analytics and Information Management functions and led enterprise IT, enabling data-driven decision-making across risk, business development, and distribution.
His previous roles include Head of Risk Analytics for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank and Analytics Delivery Leader at FICO India, where he was responsible for managing large-scale analytics programs and developing risk models for regulated markets.
Bikramjit holds a Master's degree in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and has completed the Executive Leadership Program in Digital Business Leadership from Columbia Business School, New York.
Chief Credit Officer
Mr. Ashish Powle is the Chief Credit Officer at SMFG India Credit, where he leads the organisation’s credit underwriting management across Retail, MSME, Rural, and Digital lending portfolios.
He brings over 27 years of rich experience in credit underwriting, credit and fraud risk management and operations predominantly in Retail, MSME, Rural and Digital lending segments. He held senior leadership positions across different types of leading financial institutions viz. Banks, NBFCs and DFI. Before joining SMFG India Credit in 2024, Ashish served as Head, Credit Risk (Retail, MSME, Rural & Digital) at Bank of Baroda, where he was responsible for end to end credit risk and portfolio governance across multiple business lines. Prior to this, he held key role at HDFC Bank as SVP – Head Credit Risk for Retail Commercial & SME. He spent around a decade at Axis Bank in various leadership positions managing credit policy and underwriting. One of his earlier key experiences includes credit / fraud risk management and operations at L&T Finance where he contributed significantly to strengthen underwriting standards and scaling retail credit portfolios by creating and deploying analytics led digital platforms.
Ashish is a Chartered Accountant and also holds a CAIIB certification from the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance. His educational background and extensive diverse experience in retail lending space have equipped him with deep functional expertise in credit underwriting, credit policy management, risk analytics and portfolio steering.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Mr. Gaurav Terdal is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at SMFG India Credit, responsible for driving strategic HR & CSR leadership, shaping people strategy, and enhancing organisational culture and employee experience across the company.
With over 21 years of cross-industry experience spanning financial services, manufacturing, and the automobile sector, he brings a rare blend of business acumen and people insight across Compensation, Talent, HR Technology, and Organisation Effectiveness. Gaurav has been associated with SMFG India Credit across multiple stints, honing a holistic understanding of the organisation’s culture, workforce needs, and people processes. Before rising to the CHRO role, he served as Head - HR Operations, Compensation & Governance, where he played a pivotal role in strengthening HR systems, governance frameworks, shared services, and enterprise HR technologies.
Prior to this, his leadership roles at Tyger Capital and Volvo Auto India sharpened his ability to design agile, growth‑aligned HR frameworks and lead organisations through complex transitions with steadiness and strategic depth.
An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Gaurav’s academic grounding amplifies his sharp judgement, structural thinking, and instinct for organisational design—enabling him to navigate complexity, uplift leadership effectiveness, and drive people‑led transformation with authority, empathy, and an unwavering focus on long‑term value creation.
Chief Strategy and Execution Officer
Mr. Ravindra Rao is the Chief Strategy and Execution Officer at SMFG India Credit, where he drives enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, organizational effectiveness, and governance across key business functions. He leads the Corporate Strategy and Collections verticals, anchoring the company’s long-term growth and execution agenda.
With over three decades of experience across leading banks, NBFCs, housing finance companies, and asset reconstruction platforms, Ravindra brings deep expertise in retail lending, credit, collections, and large-scale business transformation. Before joining SMFG India Credit, he served as Head of Consumer Lending and earlier Head of Credit & Collections at Axis Bank, overseeing diverse retail lending portfolios. He has also been the Chief Credit Officer at CSB Bank.
Ravindra has held multiple CEO and Executive Director roles, including ED & CEO of Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company, where he led strategic turnaround and portfolio expansion, and CEO of SMFG India Home Finance Company, where he was a founding leadership member driving early-stage growth and governance. Ravi combines strong analytical rigour with decisive, execution focused leadership—bringing a proven ability to scale businesses, strengthen credit governance, and deliver transformational outcomes.