Samir Gupta receives the Retail Banker of the Year in Asia Pacific 2019 Award at the Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards.html

Under Samir's leadership, CIMB Group Consumer Banking's operating profit rose by more than 30% annually, and the bank's productivityhas improved, while cost was reduced substantially. The bank scored a few milestones from 2017 which transformed it from an investment bank into a universal commercial bank. He has been instrumental in leading the group to stand neck to neck with the best retail banks in the region.

• Samir Gupta has a strong track record of building consumer banking franchise
• He has successfully transformed the bank through implementation of high impact projects
• He has demonstrated leadership in driving strategic transformation initiatives within the bank

Dubai, March 21st 2019- Samir Gupta received the award for Retail Banker of the Year in Asia Pacific for 2019 at the prominent Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards. The Awards Ceremony and Dinner 2019 was held at the Conrad, Dubai. Over 200 senior bankers from 40 banks across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa gathered to recognise institutional best practices and outstanding achievements in the retail financial services industry.

Samir Gupta, CEO of Group Consumer Banking, CIMB Bank during his acceptance speech at the Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2019.

Samir Gupta has a strong track record of building a consumer banking franchise

Samir is a seasoned retail banking practitioner with over 30 years of senior leadership experience with international retail banks. He has championed and led many business areas in digital banking, wealth management, consumer finance, branch distribution, credit cards, as well as support functions such as risk, operations, and audit

Over the years, Samir has achieved a strong track record of building consumer banking franchises as well as championed and led strategic transformation initiatives in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Most recent is his current role in leading the digital transformation of his bank into a leading consumer banking franchise across the ASEAN footprint. This is not something which is new to him. In his previous roles with other banks, he had also significantly expanded, deepened the presence and increased the profitability of their consumer business across the region and beyond encompassing 15 countries and new markets

He has successfully transformed the bank through implementation of high impact projects

Samir's achievements in the last three years since assuming the role of CEO, Group Consumer Banking in 2016 are equally impressive. During this period, he grew the retail bank's operating profit by more than 30% annually, improved the productivity and has reduced cost substantially. Under his leadership, Group Consumer Banking scored a few milestones from 2017 that put it in the top league of best retail banks in the region. The evolution it took from an investment bank into a universal commercial bank and increasingly transforming into a regional retail bank is a remarkable feat among its local and regional peers. The bank is building a reputation for its disciplined cost and risk management culture. 

He has demonstrated leadership in driving strategic transformation initiatives within the bank

His work has significantly impacted the retail banking transformation of the bank. He has a well thought through vision and plan for the bank. Under his leadership, the bank undertook a number of game-changing initiatives to enhance customer experience.  It completed 14 high impact projects in 2017 and 6 in 2018. Projects implemented included channel optimisation initiatives to bring best-in-class experience to customers by simplifying processes and building seamless onboarding through digital channels, a redesigned of bancassurance engagement model to increase persistency and investing in big data analytics to deliver cognitive insights through several customer touch point experiences to make the bank the customer experience bank in ASEAN.

In the picture: Philippe Paillart, Wilson Chia, Varun Sabhlok , David Gyori and Richard Hartung; Members of the Advisory Council of International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards Programme with Samir Gupta, CEO of Group Consumer Banking, CIMB Bank.

About Retail Banker of the Year Award

The Retail Banker of the Year award is the only individual award recognised under this programme and the only award of its kind in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. Very few candidates will ever qualify for this prestigious career-recognising award. It honours the achievements of an outstanding leader in the retail banking industry who has contributed significantly to the transformation of his or her retail bank as well as making a strong impact on the country and on the whole industry. It also recognises significant achievements over the person's whole career, his/her inspirational thought leadership towards the bank and the entire industry, and his/her effort to invest in staff development.

About the International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards

The International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards is one of the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent awards programme for consumer financial services in the world. Covering all of the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and West Africa, the programme was instituted in 2001 to recognise the pursuit of excellence amongst retail financial institutions.It evaluates more than 300 banks and non-bank retail financial services players in more than 42 countries, via a rigorous audit-based approach.  Detailed evaluation criteria for each category may be found at http://awards.asianbankerforums.com/retailfinancial/criteria-country

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Mr. Alfred Labicassi
The Asian Banker
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