Grameen Financial Services Pvt Ltd (GFSPL) recently announced the appointment of Mr. Udaya Kumar as the new Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, He will be overlooking the activities of GFSPL and its business divisions – Grameen Koota and Maarg.
Mr.Udaya Kumar is a veteran with experience of 25 years in the field of banking and finance sector. He has previously worked with ICICI Bank for over 12 years where true to his potential, he rose up the ladder from an Officer to a Zonal Head for Southern Region in his tenure. Prior to joining Grameen Financial Services, he was also spearheading the commercial, payment and branch operation at Barclay’s bank. In the course of his career, he has successfully imbibed technical, qualitative and managerial skill and been part of a team implementing process initiatives like Six Sigma, SOX, Five-S and ISO in operations, which will prove beneficial to GFSPL.
Mr. Suresh Krishna, Managing Director, Grameen Financial Services says “We are very happy to have on board with us Mr.Udaya Kumar who possesses extensive expertise in the rural banking sector. I am sure his experience, insights and skills will help GFSPL reach newer heights. He will be leading our management team and assisting me in leading the company to success. “
On being appointed as the CEO of Grameen Financial Services, Mr. Uday Kumar said; “I am proud to be associated with the mainstream social sector industry, which has been my long term personal goal. Associating myself with GFSPL is a big positive change for me after serving 25 years in Banking Industry. I am excited to venture into this and explore my career and being positive about my contribution to take GFSPL to newer heights. My task will be to guide the team with my diverse experience and build on this strong foundation in developing an institution which will reach out to masses for their wellbeing”.
Mr. Udaya Kumar has a degree in Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB) and also Graduate from the ‘Bank Operations and Technology’ conducted by Bank Administration Institute, USA apart from a Master’s Degree in Banking.
He comes from a humble background from rural South Canara district, Karnataka. His passion about work has given him a chance to travel extensively to many parts of India leading many teams to success. Having a strong zeal about working for rural low income households, taking this responsibility at Grameen falls in place with his personal goals as well
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About Grameen Financial Services Private Limited (GFSPL)
Grameen Koota (GK) was visualized in 1997 as a part of based on the book 'Give us credit', by Alex Counts, which gives an account of the impact of micro-credit on the lives of the poor in Bangladesh and the United States. Highly inspirational stories of large numbers of individuals rising above the poverty line through the use of micro-credit inspired the trustees of the T. Muniswamappa Trust to replicate a similar program for the benefit of poor - thus GK was born. It started operations in May 1999 with the help of seed capital funding from Grameen Trust.
Recognizing, that their capacity to expand operations was limited due to the non-profit status, the organization in October 2007 transformed from a registered Trust to a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) called Grameen Financial Services Private Limited (GFSPL).
Since then GFSPL has built its knowledge and expertise in the Indian micro-finance sector. GFSPL has a portfolio outstanding of Rs. 330.17 crore with a client base of more than 427,144 spread across 37 districts in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tami Nadu.