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Sameer Kumar

Works with financial institutions across Asia on large-scale transformations, strategy, digital banking, and credit risk and provides expertise on banking for small and medium-size enterprises and risk management in emerging markets

Sameer is a partner in our Financial Services Practice. He leads McKinsey’s work on small and medium-size enterprise (SME) banking in Asia.

Sameer advises clients on banking strategy, product development, branch transformation, operations, and risk management. He has extensive experience in working in emerging markets—particularly in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

For five years, Sameer supported one of the largest regional banks in Asia on multiple initiatives. He helped the client develop a wholesale-banking operating model that spanned front-end units, product customization, and sector-specific underwriting models. He also assisted with the buildup of greenfield-banking operations, scaling of wholesale operations, and launch of commercial and retail businesses. Sameer advised the client on a commercial-credit underwriting architecture for multiple markets.

Examples of his recent client work include the following:

  • supporting the bankwide transformation, including all businesses and spanned sales, products, operations, and risk, for one of the largest public-sector banks in Southeast Asia
  • advising an Australian bank on greenfield market-entry strategy
  • helping one of the largest private banks in Southeast Asia develop a customer-centric risk architecture, which involved designing credit scorecards, processes, and policies for all retail-banking products

Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Sameer served banks as a senior manager, head of analytics, and regional quality manager. In addition to his academic degrees, Sameer holds a Six Sigma black belt.

Published work

Managing and monitoring credit risk after the COVID-19 pandemic,” McKinsey & Company, July 2020

Lessons from Asian banks on their coronavirus response,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020

Past experience

Standard Chartered
Senior manager and head of analytics

ICICI Bank
Regional quality manager

Education

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
BS, engineering

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
MBA