Noman Azhar

Chief Officer at Zindigi

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Noman Azhar is the Chief Officer at Zindigi, one of the first fully digital banks in Pakistan. He joined JS Bank in 2017 as Head of Branchless Banking.

Early life and background

Noman Azhar was born in Pindi. He says he was born in December 1986. He comes from a family of businesspeople and was the eldest male in the family. Azhar says his family ran into a serious financial crisis in 2007. [1]

Education

Azhar completed his FSC at a college, where he studied pre-engineering. He completed both a BBA and an MBA at the same university, Arid University. He did his BBA from 2004 to 2007 and finished his MBA in 2008. He reports a CGPA of 3.95 out of 4. [1]

Early career

Azhar started his career in mid-2007, while still doing his BBA, at an international call centre. He says he took a job because he had to pay his own fees. He worked at the call centre for about six to seven months. He left a job paying about 20,000 to 22,000 for a 5,000 internship, and was hired after about a month of the internship. [1]

Ufone

Azhar spent about 11 years at Ufone before leaving. He says he was heading digital financial services and digital governance, and that he was the youngest business head in the telecom industry. He moved from customer services to the business side, which he says is not a normal path in telecom. He says customer service gave him a 360-degree view of the business. [1]

Move into banking

Azhar says he decided to move out because the new management never had that level of confidence in digital. He then joined a smaller company and stayed about a year. He resigned in the thirteenth month there and says he felt only about 10 percent utilised. He then spent a short spell, between about a month and a half and two and a half months, at a bank. [1]

JS Bank

The bank's branchless portfolio was, by his account, a loss-making venture of around a billion rupees a year. He says he turned that portfolio profitable in less than two years. He says he stopped the cash burn and generated 50 to 60 million. [1]

He says he was again the youngest SVP, and then became EVP. He says he was made acting CIO in November and revamped the full IT infrastructure within five months. He says he hired a CIO himself and handed over to that person. [1]

Azhar said he would take the CDO role as his career progression and not stay in IT, and he says he became CDO, the Chief Digital Officer. He told his bosses that he would either launch within nine months or not launch at all. He says launching a digital bank had been a vision for five or six years. [1]

Zindigi

Azhar says his current title is Chief Officer of Zindigi. His previous title was Chief Digital Officer, with a core KPI of digitising banking operations and processes. He says Zindigi was launched on 18 January. He says tech stack development took eight to nine months, and that to be a digital bank, he could not depend on a third-party vendor. [1]

He says Zindigi is the only digital bank in Pakistan whose technology is 100 percent self-developed. His tech team grew from about 20 people to about 250, direct and indirect. He estimates Zindigi has over 7 million downloads and says it came in fourth place in the financial services sector. He says Zindigi has around 3.5 million accounts that customers properly opened. [1]

He says he sharply reduced his marketing budget in percentage terms while his gains kept rising, and that they targeted Gen Z and millennials from day one. He says about 30 to 35 percent of the customers for the stock market offering were added in less than six months. He says the mutual fund ticket size was set at 103 rupees, and that they made it easy to register for the stock market inside the app. [1]

He says a customer gets a card in less than 48 hours, and that they aimed from day one to go international and operate to international standards. He says Zindigi is a data-driven organisation that categorises customers from sign-up, and that his organisation is data driven at its core. [1]

He says they digitised Islamabad Traffic Police about four or five years earlier. He says Zindigi expected to be going massively into lending within two to three months. On licensing, he says that with a commercial banking licence, no other licence is technically needed to do anything, and that Zindigi is not a digital bank, because for one, it did not get a licence. [1]

Views

Azhar says digital is the future while telecom is a mature industry. He predicts Pakistan will be a tech giant by 2050. He argues that a country that imports wheat and sugar is not an agricultural country. He says all government-related payments have to be digitised and that one day cash has to stop. [1]

He says delinquency on credit cards is higher than on mortgage and car loans. He says Gen Z and millennials are always thinking about doubling their money. On data, he says where data is stored matters less than how secure it is, that cyber security is more than installing a firewall, and that customer data should be encrypted both in transit and at rest. [1]

Working style

Azhar describes himself as a risk taker. He says he loves change and takes on challenges, and that he loves problem solving. He says losing is not an option for him. [1]

He says he stayed in the office for 72 hours straight, and that he became the star in less than three to four years. He describes one of his bosses as a mentor. He says he told people on Eid that he is a digital banker and asked them to stop asking him for cash. [1]

Timeline

1986
Born in December[1]
2004
Began his BBA[1]
2007
Started his career while still doing his BBA[1]
2008
Finished his MBA[1]
2017
Joined JS Bank[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2023-06-05 The digital bank built from scratch in nine months Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Noman Azhar?

Noman Azhar is the Chief Officer at Zindigi, one of the first fully digital banks in Pakistan. He joined JS Bank in 2017 as Head of Branchless Banking.[1]

What does Noman Azhar do?

Noman Azhar says his current title is Chief Officer of Zindigi. His previous title was Chief Digital Officer, with a core KPI of digitising banking operations and processes.[1]

Where did Noman Azhar study?

Noman Azhar completed both a BBA and an MBA at Arid University. He did his BBA from 2004 to 2007 and finished his MBA in 2008. He reports a CGPA of 3.95 out of 4.[1]

Where is Noman Azhar from?

Noman Azhar was born in Pindi. He says he was born in December 1986 and comes from a family of businesspeople.[1]

When did Noman Azhar join JS Bank?

Noman Azhar joined JS Bank in 2017 as Head of Branchless Banking. He says the bank's branchless portfolio was a loss-making venture of around a billion rupees a year, and that he turned that portfolio profitable in less than two years.[1]

How did Noman Azhar start his career?

Noman Azhar started his career in mid-2007, while still doing his BBA, at an international call centre. He worked there for about six to seven months. He spent about 11 years at Ufone before leaving.[1]

What did Noman Azhar do at Ufone?

Noman Azhar spent about 11 years at Ufone before leaving. He says he launched two branchless banking initiatives at Ufone, and an Islamic version of an existing product together with Meezan.[1]

What does Noman Azhar think about the future of Pakistan?

Noman Azhar predicts Pakistan will be a tech giant by 2050. He says digital is the future while telecom is a mature industry.[1]

References

  1. The digital bank built from scratch in nine months . Thought Behind Things , 2023-06-05.
Show the source passages (88 statements)
  1. Noman Azhar is the Chief Officer at Zindigi, one of the first fully digital banks in Pakistan. Noman Azhar is the Chief Officer at Zindigi which is one of the first fully digital banks in Pakistan.
  2. He says his current title is Chief Officer of Zindigi. Now the title says Chief Officer Zindagi.
  3. His previous title was Chief Digital Officer, with a core KPI of digitising banking operations and processes. the title previously was Chief Digital Officer while I was working as where my core KPI was to digitize banking operations and processes
  4. He was born in Pindi, in a part of the city. So I was born in Pindi and primarily in the area jo ke actually city ka area kehlata hai Bani ke ilaqe mein
  5. He comes from a family of businesspeople. we I belong to a businessman family
  6. He says he was born in December 1986. I was born in 1986 December
  7. He was the eldest male in his family. I am the eldest male in the family, yeah
  8. He completed his FSC at a college. College maine OPF H-8/4 se FSC kiya
  9. He studied pre-engineering during his FSC. So we went into pre-engineering
  10. He completed both a BBA and an MBA at the same university, Arid University. So BBA kiya aur MBA kiya. So dono same university. Do same, dono same university se. So main accidentally fallen into Arid University
  11. He did his BBA from 2004 to 2007. 2004 to 7 I did my BBA
  12. He finished his MBA in 2008. 2008 I finished my MBA
  13. He reports a CGPA of 3.95 out of 4. I got 3.95 CGPA out of 4
  14. He started his career in mid-2007, while still doing his BBA. I started my career in 2007, mid 2007 while I was doing my BBA
  15. He says his family ran into a serious financial crisis in 2007. right in 2007 when I went into the second last semester of the university, we got into serious financial crisis as a family
  16. He took a job because he had to pay his own fees. mujhe fees pay karni thi, maine naukri kar li
  17. He started at an international call centre. career maine start kiya ek normally jo us waqt bahut zyada trend hota tha ek international call center mein
  18. He worked at that call centre for about six to seven months. I worked for that call center for almost six, seven months
  19. He left a job paying about 20,000 to 22,000 for a 5,000 internship. wo main achhi khasi 20, 22 hazaar ki naukri chhod ke main 5 hazaar ki internship pe chala gaya
  20. He was hired after about a month of his internship. Wo I went there, uh Allah ne karam kiya, ek mahine ke andar hi uh they hired me
  21. He spent about 11 years at Ufone before leaving. when I was leaving Ufone, after 11 year of my career
  22. He says he was heading digital financial services and digital governance. I was heading digital financial services and digital governance
  23. He says he was the youngest business head in the telecom industry. I was the youngest business head uh ever in the Telecom industry
  24. He moved from customer services to the business side, which he says is not a normal path in telecom. eventually uh it's not a normal tradition in uh Telecom, but main CS se utha aur main business side pe chala gaya
  25. He says customer service gave him a 360-degree view of the business. Jab main customer services mein tha toh mere paas 360 degree view tha
  26. He moved into marketing after an offer from the marketing side. toh mujhe offer marketing se khud aayi ke aap aa jayein
  27. He says he was the first non-LUMS, non-IBA, non-international degree holder to move into marketing. I was first non-LUMS, non-IBA, non-international degree person jo marketing mein chala gaya tha
  28. He joined the value added services department in the product team, at a time when telecom companies were starting to move into mobile financial services. So product mein I joined in the department jo ke VAS tha, Value Added Services. Unn dino mein yeh naya naya chal raha tha ke telecom ne MFS karna hai
  29. He says he launched two branchless banking initiatives at Ufone. main ne do branchless ke actually initiative launch kiye Ufone mein
  30. He says he launched an Islamic version of an existing product together with Meezan. Phir main ne Meezan UPay launch kiya Meezan ke saath mil ke ke Islamic version of UPay launch kiya
  31. He says he decided to move out because the new management never had that level of confidence in digital. I decided to move out because the new management never had that level of confidence on digital
  32. He then joined a smaller company and stayed about a year. went into a smaller organization but gave a year there
  33. He resigned in the thirteenth month there. 13vein mahine pe main ne resign kar diya
  34. He says he felt only about 10 percent utilised. main 10% utilized ho raha tha
  35. He then spent a short spell, between about a month and a half and two and a half months, at a bank. Main ek bank mein gaya, dhai mahine, mahina dedh mahina guzara
  36. He joined JS Bank in 2017. Main ne 2017 mein jis waqt JS join kiya
  37. At JS Bank he joined as Head of Branchless Banking. So I joined JS as Head of Branchless Banking
  38. He says the bank's branchless portfolio was a loss-making venture of around a billion rupees a year. branchless ek J Cash naam ka inka portfolio chal raha tha jo ke it was a loss making venture of around a billion rupee a year
  39. He says he turned that portfolio profitable in less than two years. In less than two years usko profitable kar diya
  40. He says he stopped the cash burn and generated 50 to 60 million. burn band kar diya, 50-60 million bana liya
  41. He says he was again the youngest SVP, and then became EVP. So again I was the youngest SVP, phir main EVP ho gaya
  42. He says he was made acting CIO in November. November mein main CIO acting laga
  43. He says he revamped the full IT infrastructure within five months. Main ne paanch mahine ke andar poora ka poora IT infrastructure revamp kar diya
  44. He says he hired a CIO himself and handed over to that person. khud kiye CIO hire kiya, usko hand over kiya
  45. He says he became CDO, the Chief Digital Officer. Jab main CDO bana, maine boss ko kaha, maine kaha dedh se do saal
  46. He said he would take the CDO role as his career progression and not stay in IT. Main ne kaha sir CDO ban jaunga, that's my career progression. IT mein nahi rakhunga
  47. He told his bosses that he would either launch within nine months or not launch at all. Maine bosses ko kaha main nau mahine mein ya launch karunga ya nahi karunga
  48. He says launching a digital bank had been a vision for five or six years. paanch cheh saal purana vision tha ke unhone digital bank launch karna hai
  49. He says Zindigi was launched on 18 January. January last year January 18 tareekh ko humne zindagi launch kar diya
  50. He says tech stack development took eight to nine months. Mere aath se nau mahine tech stack development pe lage
  51. He says that to be a digital bank, he could not depend on a third-party vendor. If I have to be the digital bank, I can't have my dependency on a third party vendor
  52. He says Zindigi is the only digital bank in Pakistan whose technology is 100 percent self-developed. nine months mein 100% we are the only digital bank in Pakistan jiska 100% tech apna developed hai
  53. He says his tech team grew from about 20 people to about 250, direct and indirect. Meri tech team 20 bandon se is waqt koi 250 bandon mein ja chuki hai. Direct and indirect mila ke
  54. He estimates Zindigi has over 7 million downloads. we are around I think 7 million plus downloads
  55. He says Zindigi came in fourth place in the financial services sector. usme fourth number pe Zindagi aayi in the financial services sector
  56. He says Zindigi has around 3.5 million accounts that customers properly opened. we have around 3.5 million accounts with us customer jinhone properly accounts khole
  57. He says he sharply reduced his marketing budget in percentage terms while his gains kept rising. main percentage mein kahoon toh maine bahut decrease kar diya apna marketing budget lekin meri gain jo hai woh badhti ja rahi hai
  58. He says they targeted Gen Z and millennials from day one. humne day one se Gen Z aur millennial ko target kiya tha
  59. He says about 30 to 35 percent of the customers for the stock market offering were added in less than six months. iska 30-35% customer add kiya hai inka in less than six months
  60. He says the mutual fund ticket size was set at 103 rupees. Humne mutual fund ka ticket size kiya 103 rupay ka
  61. He says they made it easy to register for the stock market inside the app. Humne kya kiya, humne aapki app ke andar JS Global ke through stock market mein register karna asaan bana diya
  62. He says they digitised Islamabad Traffic Police about four or five years earlier. Islamabad Traffic Police, aaj se char paanch saal pehle humne digitize ki
  63. He says Zindigi expected to be going massively into lending within two to three months. In less than uh two three months you will see we are going massively on lending side
  64. He says that with a commercial banking licence, no other licence is technically needed to do anything. Ek commercial banking license ke hote hue aapko koi aur license nahi chahiye technically kuch bhi karne ke liye
  65. He says Zindigi is not a digital bank, because for one, it did not get a licence. it is not a digital bank kyunki ek toh hum humein license nahi mila
  66. He says a customer gets a card in less than 48 hours. Less than 48 hours you'll get a card
  67. He says they aimed from day one to go international and operate to international standards. we aimed from day one that we have to go international, hum isko 100% international standards pe chalate hain
  68. He says Zindagi is a data-driven organisation that categorises customers from sign-up. as Zindigi is a data driven organization where you when you sign up, we categorize you from that particular point
  69. He says his organisation is data driven at its core. We are a data driven organization at core.
  70. He says they used a predictive model to predict churn and spend. hum us predictive model ki basis pe churn bhi predict karte the, spend bhi predict karte the
  71. He says Ufone had about 23 million customers. 23 million customer ka data in Ufone, 23 million customers hote the
  72. He says he stayed in the office for 72 hours straight. Main 72 ghante, 72 hours, straight office mein raha
  73. He says losing is not an option for him. Losing is not an option for me
  74. He says he became the star in less than three to four years. I became the star in less than three four years
  75. He describes one of his bosses as a mentor. mere ek boss hain, mentor hain, Taimoor sahab
  76. He describes himself as a risk taker. main kyunke zindagi mein hoon hi risk taker
  77. He says he loves change and takes on challenges. I just love change, main khud pange leta rehta hoon
  78. He says he loves problem solving. I love problem solving. I am someone who always feels happier solving a problem
  79. He says he told people on Eid that he is a digital banker and asked them to stop asking him for cash. Eid pe maine logon ko kaha ke main digital banker hu, Allah ka waasta hai mere se cash mangna band kar do
  80. He says digital is the future while telecom is a mature industry. Digital is future, telecom is like maturity mein aur kuch na bhi ho toh at least matured hai
  81. He predicts Pakistan will be a tech giant by 2050. 2050 mein Pakistan will be a tech giant Inshallah
  82. He argues that a country that imports wheat and sugar is not an agricultural country. Jo country gandhum aur cheeni bahar se mangwa rahi hai, woh agriculture country nahi hai
  83. He says delinquency on credit cards is higher than on mortgage and car loans. credit cards mein delinquency higher than mortgage aur car hoti hai
  84. He says all government-related payments have to be digitised and that one day cash has to stop. Government related tamam payments has to get digitized. And on one day it has to stop on cash
  85. He says Gen Z and millennials are always thinking about doubling their money. Gen Z aur millennials hamesha paisa double karne ka sochte hain
  86. He says where data is stored matters less than how secure it is. Aapka data pada kahan hai woh matter nahi karta, woh secure kitna hai woh matter karta hai
  87. He says cyber security is more than installing a firewall. Cyber security sirf ye nahi hoti ke aapne firewall kya lagaya hai
  88. He says customer data should be encrypted both in transit and at rest. Data has to be an extremely encrypted environment and it should not only be data at in transit, data at rest bhi aapka encrypted hona chahiye