Rahel Ahmed, a banker of two decades, joins Nagad as CEO

Rahel Ahmed, the former managing director and CEO of Prime Bank Ltd, has joined Bangladesh Post Office’s digital financial service Nagad as its chief executive officer.

Prior to joining the mobile money company, Ahmed served Prime Bank for three years, leading its management team. He was also the deputy managing director and deputy CEO of the bank and had played a key role in the digitalisation of the bank, Nagad said in a statement on Sunday.

He has had more than two decades of experience in the banking industry at home and abroad. He was commended for pioneering a collateral-free loan in the information and communication technology industry in Bangladesh, according to the statement.

Ahmed started his career as a management trainee at ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1995. He worked in various capacities at the corporate banking division of the bank. He led the local corporate and international corporate divisions of Standard Chartered Bangladesh. From 2008 to 2014, Ahmed held important positions at the Emirates Islamic Bank and First Gulf Bank PJSC in the United Arab Emirates. He obtained an MBA from Maastricht School of Business in the Netherlands.

“I will strive to transform Nagad into the leading payments company in Bangladesh by blending my experience in the financial sector and my plan with the activities of Nagad. At the same time, we will make an effort to contribute to the digitalisation in the financial industry in the country,” Ahmed said in the statement.

Nagad now serves about three crore active clients, and about Tk 300 crore is now transacted through its platform on average every day.