New Delhi: Kotak Mahindra Bank on Monday announced the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as its Whole-time Director, subject to regulatory approvals, bolstering the private lender’s top management as competition intensifies in retail banking and digital financial services.
Saha will join the bank’s senior management as Whole-time Director (Designate) from January 12, 2026, and will be responsible for overseeing consumer banking, marketing and data analytics functions, the bank said in a regulatory filing.
Saha most recently served as managing director at Bajaj Finance, where he spent over eight years and played a key role in scaling the non-banking financial company into one of India’s most profitable consumer finance platforms. During his tenure, Bajaj Finance expanded its customer base to around 100 million, diversified its product portfolio and accelerated digital and data-led initiatives.
Prior to Bajaj Finance, Saha spent 14 years at ICICI Bank in senior leadership roles, building experience across consumer and retail banking, analytics and digital transformation—capabilities that are increasingly central to banks’ growth strategies.
Welcoming the appointment, Kotak Mahindra Bank chairman C S Rajan said Saha’s track record in scaling businesses and driving customer-centric digital transformation would add significant depth to the board and leadership team. Managing director and CEO Ashok Vaswani said the move reflected Kotak’s focus on building a strong leadership bench to support long-term growth and innovation.
“I am excited to join Kotak at a time when the financial services sector is undergoing rapid transformation,” Saha said, adding that he looked forward to deepening customer relationships and creating value for stakeholders.
Analysts see the appointment as a strategic move for Kotak as it seeks to strengthen its consumer franchise, leverage data and analytics more aggressively, and compete more effectively with both traditional banks and fintech-led players in retail lending and payments.
Kotak Mahindra Group, founded in 1985, is among India’s leading diversified financial services conglomerates, with interests spanning banking, lending, capital markets, asset management and insurance. As of September 30, 2025, the group had a nationwide network of 5,511 branches and a consolidated balance sheet size of about ₹9.1 trillion.