Leadership Team

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.

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.

Mr. Pankaj Malik is the Group Chief Financial Officer 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.

Mr. Srinivasan Balachander is the Group Chief Compliance Officer of SMFG India Credit.

With over three decades of distinguished experience in banking and financial services, Mr. Balachander has built deep expertise across branch banking, corporate and retail credit, operations, and compliance, with exposure to both domestic and international banking environments. In his current role, he leads the Compliance function for the Group, including SMFG India Credit’s wholly owned home finance subsidiary. Over the course of his career, he has held Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) roles at Union Bank of India, Bandhan Bank, and Axis Bank, where his responsibilities included risk assessment, compliance testing, monitoring, and resolution. He has also been associated with Global Trust Bank and The Vysya Bank in retail banking business roles.

He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Data Processing from Bharathidasan University.

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.

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.

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.

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.