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BANK UPDATE

Banking

IndusInd Bank launches IOB appoints Dhanaraj as we're jumping into it," Wyatt Crowell,
head of commercial banking at HSBC,
payment wearables new Executive Director told Reuters in an interview. "It's gone

IndusInd Bank introduced 'Indus Banker Dhanaraj T has assumed office way better than I thought it was go-
PayWear,' a new wearable payment as the Executive Director of the Indian ing to go, both in terms of the volume
solution, available on Mastercard. Overseas Bank (IOB). The appointment of deals and our win rate on the
These wearables enable users to is for three years effective from March deals."
tokenise their IndusInd Bank cards for 10, 2024, according to a statement.
tap-and-pay transactions at Prior to this role, the 53-year-old Delhi-born Geeta Batra is
contactless Point-of-Sale (PoS) termi- served as the chief general manager at
nals worldwide. Indian Bank. Beginning his career as a 1st woman director of
rural development officer in 1994, he World Bank body
The company reported, with a mobile
app, users can easily set up their cards holds an agricultural engineering de- Geeta Batra, an India-born economist,
on the wearable and switch between gree from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural has been named as the new director
them. Advanced tokenisation technol- University. at the Independent Evaluation Office
ogy ensures transaction security by (IEO) of the World Bank's Global Envi-
replacing actual card details with HSBC to hire 50 bankers ronment Facility (GEF), making her the
unique 'tokens.' Transactions below for startup lending first ever woman from a developing
Rs. 5,000 can be made with a tap, country to hold the coveted post.
while those exceeding Rs. 5,000 re- HSBC is planning to recruit about 50 Batra, 57, is currently the chief evalu-
more bankers in its U.S. commercial ator and deputy director for evaluation
quire the PIN entry as per RBI guide-
lines. bank to lend to startup companies, at the GEF IEO, affiliated to the World
mainly in the technology and Bank.
Sumant Kathpalia, MD & CEO of healthcare sectors, according to a se-
IndusInd Bank, stated, "We aim to nior executive. Batra's name was unanimously recom-
shape a seamless and secure payment mended for the coveted position at the
The London-headquartered bank hired 66th GEF council meeting.
future with innovations like Indus
PayWear." Gautam Aggarwal, Division about 40 people from Silicon Valley "My top priorities will be to deliver
Bank after the latter lender failed a
President, South Asia, Mastercard, sound evaluative evidence on the re-
commented, "Indus Paywear delivers year ago. The innovation banking busi- sults and performance of the GEF, pro-
flexibility, convenience and security, ness at HSBC now stands at about 60 vide leadership to ensure that the GEF
reflecting Mastercard's commitment employees and is focused on serving IEO stays at the forefront of environ-
to empowering consumers in the digi- early- and mid-stage companies. mental evaluation and strengthen the
tal age." "There's this void in the market and IEO teams and invest in skills," Batra

BANKING FINANCE | APRIL | 2024 | 5