Mr. Arfan Ali is leaving the banking profession. Today is his last working day at the bank. His tenure as MD will end on Friday. He is MD of the bank since 2016. After that, Arfan Ali decided not to go to any other bank. Although he still has more than 10 years to serve as an MD. Instead, he is said to be planning to embark on a massive financial inclusion program.
Although the MD of Bank Asia, Arfan Ali had a big identity, he was actively involved in agent banking from its inception. When such top officials of the bank ran after big customers, he went to remote areas to open bank accounts. As a result, his unique identity has been created in the banking sector.
When asked why he was leaving the banking profession, Arfan Ali said, “I have tried to work on financial inclusion in my career. Leaving the banking profession to work on financial inclusion on a larger scale. Hopefully, through this, the quality of life of marginalized people can be improved.
However, people related to the sector said that Arfan Ali has become MD from an officer of Bank Asia. The next generation is not giving him as much freedom of action as the founders of the bank gave him. As a result, it has become difficult for Arfan Ali to stay in the bank. Same situation in other banks. He is not going to any other bank for this.
Arfan Ali holds an MBA degree from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University. His career started by joining Arab Bangladesh Bank as a probationary officer in 1991. Joined Korean Hanil Bank (Woori Bank) in 1996 and led the establishment of the office in Dhaka. He joined the bank before it was established in 1999. He took over as MD of Bank Asia in August 2016. His six-year term of two three-year terms will end on Friday.
During his career, Arfan Ali led the spread of agent banking services across the country. Apart from this, he played a role in providing technology and banking facilities in ‘Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar‘ project (now Amar Bari Amar Khamar) and launching micro merchant transactions through QR code. That is, everything in his career revolved around marginalized people.
