Thrissur: ESAF Small Finance Bank has announced the appointment of Karthikeyan Manickam as the Chairman of the Bank, marking a significant addition to its leadership at a time of continued focus on inclusive growth and governance excellence. A former Executive Director of Bank of India, Shri Manickam brings with him over 36 years of extensive experience in public sector banking.
Karthikeyan is widely recognised for his deep domain expertise across banking operations, risk management, regulatory compliance, human resources, credit monitoring and recovery, financial inclusion, and customer-centric banking. His appointment is expected to further strengthen ESAF Bank’s corporate governance framework, enhance strategic oversight, and reinforce long-term institutional resilience, while supporting the Bank’s commitment to delivering superior customer service.
In his role as Chairman, Karthikeyan will provide independent oversight and strategic guidance to the Board, supporting the Bank’s priorities around inclusive banking, asset quality improvement, regulatory adherence, sustainable growth, and high standards of service delivery. His leadership is expected to bolster stakeholder confidence in an increasingly dynamic and competitive financial environment.
During his tenure as Executive Director at Bank of India, Karthikeyan was part of the top management team and played a key role in shaping policies and strategies across multiple portfolios, including risk management, inspection and audit, stressed asset resolution, retail banking, agriculture and MSME financing, government business, CSR, marketing, and financial inclusion.
Earlier in his career, he held several senior leadership roles at Indian Bank. He has also served on the boards of Tamil Nadu Grama Bank and BOI STAR Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd., and was Chairman of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Limited (SUD Life).
