Personalities
K V Kamath
Mr. Kundapur Vaman Kamath is the man credited with driving not only ICICI Bank's growth, but also that of the entire financial services sector in the country. Born on December 2, 1947, in Mangalore, Karnataka, Kamath is a mechanical engineer from the Karnataka Regional Educational College (now called National Institute of Technology Karnataka) in Surathkal and a post graduate in management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
Kamath started his career in 1971 with ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), in the Project Finance division and moved on to different departments to gather experience. In 1988, Kamath joined the Asian Development Bank, Manila in their Private Sector Department where he worked in various projects in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam, thereby gaining rich experience and exposure to a variety of business situations.
On his return to ICICI in 1996 as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kamath transformed the face of banking in India. ICICI expanded its services to the retail customers and acquired many non-banking finance companies in 1996-98. It is Mr. K V Kamanth who led the path for formation of ICICI Bank which is now India’s number one private sector bank. Kamath brought a paradigm shift in Indian banking by making ICICI as the most technology-savvy bank of the country. It is one of the first banks in the country which introduced ATMs and internet banking. From an industrial finance institution, Kamath has made ICICI into a financial services powerhouse, including retail banking, insurance, online trading and moving towards universal banking.
Mr. K V Kamath has been bestowed with many prestigious awards which include, Asian Business Leader of the Year - Asian Business Leader Award 2001 (CNBC Asia), Outstanding Business Leader of the Year - CNBC TV-18, 2006, Businessman of the Year - Business India, 2005, and Business Leader Award of the Year - The Economic Times, 2007. In 2007, K.V. Kamath has been named Businessman of the Year by Forbes Asia, for his continuous zeal in making ICICI bank into one of Asia’s top banks. It is now bigger than Singapore’s DBS Group and Korea’s Kookmin Bank, and has attracted big stakeholders such as Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and CLSA and Merrill Lynch funds.
Kamath is also Member of the Governing Board on various educational institutions including the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Indian School of Business, National Institute of Bank Management and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Kamath is also a Member of the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Mr. K V Kamath is a distinguished leader and manager who focused on providing world class banking services to the middle class at affordable prices, with the use of modern technology. He has a vision of a techno savvy developed India with financial security and independence for the common man. With his outstanding efforts, Mr. KV Kamath has completely transformed the way we bank.