A woman can be known by her mentors. In that department, few can match her. Zarin Daruwala who is The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) holds a rank in her chartered accountancy examination and also a gold medalist when she qualified as a company secretary. Zarin Daruwala started her career with the ICICI Group, where she had worked in different departments like human resources, corporate planning, investment banking and credit. In corporate finance, agri-business and in other fields, she has held leadership positions. After working and taking experience she joined Standard Chartered Bank.
In 2016, Zarin Daruwala joined Standard Chartered Bank India and took the charge as CEO. At the time of her joining the bank's retail banking (RB) business was going through tough times. After seeing the situation she decided to improve the circumstances and observed that the business required a course correction and continued investments in technology. She made the strategy and by the first half of 2019, the bank's retail banking business was back in profits.
Retail digital banking initiative was launched by Standard Chartered Bank India in 2018 and since then, through a digital interface, nearly 90 percent of all savings accounts in the bank have been opened. According to the 2018 report of Finalta-McKinsey the digital interface making the bank's digital penetration 12 percent higher then the Indian average.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has conferred on her the CA Business Achiever award.
She believes in instant feedback and has always given the same to her colleagues and also believes in the effectiveness of being candid with the team. She goes on to say, “As a leader, I feel it is important to have a couple of attributes. One is all about building a team which shares your vision while the other revolves around the never-say-die attitude.”
She always said that, "A team needs to have the right kind of people to fit in your culture and who share your values. It is also critical to be receptive to new ideas and suggestions as it is always good to get fresh perspectives on old ways of working.” She has wide and extensive knowledge of various sectors of the Indian economy.
She believes in hard work and has a mantra for life which she shares with everyone by saying, “I believe in never giving up. This mantra has helped me overcome any challenge in front of me and kept me focussed on the job at hand, be it studies, career, or now as CEO of a MNC bank in India. I always like to challenge the status quo and appreciate people who come with solutions rather than those who say ‘it can’t be done’.”
