NPCI strengthens its leadership ranks; Appoints Ms. Praveena Rai as COO and Mr. Arif Khan as CDO

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the appointments of Ms. Praveena Rai as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Mr. Arif Khan as Chief Digital Officer (CDO) with effect from 20th February 2019 and 18th February 2019, respectively.

As COO, Ms. Praveena Rai will be in-charge of formulating & deploying the marketing, business development, product management and operations strategy in line with NPCI’s overall strategic objectives of simple, secure and seamless consumer experience to further the cause of rapid digitalisation of India. Ms. Rai will drive product penetration, reach and visibility of NPCI’s offerings through suitable partnerships.

With over 20 years of extensive experience, Ms. Rai has built expertise in various facets of payments, cards, retail, transaction, wholesale and commercial banking.

Prior to joining NPCI, she was leading the cash management portfolio at Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. Ms. Rai was managing payments for Asia at HSBC and was also the Head of sales at HSBC, where she provided solutions to global banking corporations in Asia and SME’s in India. Ms. Rai holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication and has a post-graduate degree from IIM Ahmedabad. 

The profile of CDO is taken over by Mr. Arif Khan at NPCI, who will be leading strategic planning for digital transformation. The role is aimed at growing NPCI’s new products portfolio basis customer needs and industry trends. Mr. Khan will be responsible for driving innovation, analytics and technology.

A post graduate in Business Management from XLRI – Jamshedpur, Mr. Khan was earlier associated with RazorPay (one of the fastest growing payment gateways) as the Chief Innovation Officer. Arif during his stint at HDFC bank of over 15 years was instrumental in driving strategic initiatives in payments, digital banking and financial inclusion. With an overall experience of over 18 years in the product management, business development and delivering innovative business and technology solutions, Arif has been instrumental in influencing diverse groups to deliver innovative business and new age disruptive solutions.