Fintech major Paytm has appointed Ramana Kumar as the Chief Executive Officer for its Middle East business, marking a significant step in the company’s international expansion roadmap. With over two decades of experience in banking, fintech, and payments, Kumar is set to drive Paytm’s growth in one of the world’s most dynamic financial markets.
Before joining Paytm, Kumar was the founding CEO of UAE-based payments company Magnati, a subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), where he led major initiatives to modernise payments and scale business. He also held key leadership roles at FAB as Executive Vice President and at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), where he headed global transaction banking as Managing Director and helped developing digital banking and payment solutions.
In his new role, Kumar will lead Paytm’s expansion in UAE and the wider Middle East, focusing on developing digital payment solutions tailored to local needs, bringing the company’s proven digital payments infrastructure and financial services expertise from India.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO – Paytm said, “We welcome Ramana, who has built a formidable merchant payments business in the UAE. We aim to serve the region by building and bringing strong regional leadership, backed by our proven technology.”
Commenting on his new role, Ramana Kumar said, “I am excited to join Paytm and lead its Middle East business. The region is rapidly adopting digital payments, and there’s a strong demand for innovative, secure, and scalable solutions. Paytm’s technology, built and refined in India, is well-suited to meet these needs. We will work closely with regulators and ecosystem partners to introduce impactful innovations and strengthen the digital payments landscape.”
Paytm has already indicated its ambition to take its merchant payments and financial services distribution model global. With growing interest in digital payments in markets like the UAE, Singapore, and other parts of Asia and the Middle East, the company sees international growth as a key pillar of its long-term strategy. According to the company, more global initiatives are underway, with “meaningful results expected over the next few years.”
