'Address the needs of middle India': Ajay Kanwal, MD and CEO of Jana Small Finance Bank, on scripting a new strategy

Ajay Kanwal decided to take the road less travelled. After a stint at Standard Chartered Bank, he headed to Bengaluru to manage a small microfinance firm, Janalakshmi Financial Services, which converted to a small finance bank (SFB) in 2017. With over three decades of experience dealing with high-end customers, 58-year-old Kanwal, who is MD & CEO of the SFB, set about laying a new foundation for growth at the loss-making Jana. In a little over six years, those efforts have paid off, with Jana scripting a turnaround. Kanwal talks about how that was achieved and the ambition of converting into a universal bank. Edited excerpts: