Head of Partnership Development 

Abhi Raman

Highly-driven go-getter with a proven track record of delivering sustainable results. Dynamic,capable and business savvy professional within 2o years of extensive experience across a broad range of business development, product development,channel development, alliance management, marketing communications, key account management and sales management functions in Card and Payment industry - both Issuing and Acquiring, Internet Banking and Consumer Banking 

1) To be responsible for all commercial relationships with existing or new partners and strategic alliances within the targeted region
2) To introduce iPay88's new technologies and conceptualize new strategic initiatives to partners
3) To manage the strategic relationship with key partners, card schemes and the financial institutions
4) To develop and implement a partnership strategy to increase the reach and impact of the co's on-going efforts in advancing its products and services
5) To be responsible for creating new regional business opportunities with partners and work closely with Head of Sales of local offices in executing regional merchants on boarding
6) To coordinate the management of ongoing relationships with existing partners and where relevant,leverage those relationships to greater collective impact
7) To manage the day-to-day business relationships with key strategic partners to drive and track revenue opportunities (thru merchants on boarding)
8) To work closely with internal stakeholders - NTT Data Group of Companies (Global Sales Team) to grow iPay88 business aggressively within APAC
9) To acquire regional and global merchants and any other related KPIs assigned from time to time

Head of Partnership Development

•	Lead and drive the new business growth by delivering the prepaid card (plastic and e-wallet) solutions and platforms to the unserved and underserved, particularly in emerging markets.

•	Drive and manage the mobile and e-wallet apps and software development for iPhone and Android by creating a better digital payment eco-system to accommodate customer’s need. 

•	Manage, guide and develop a team size of 6 to ensure that staff performance is managed appropriately as well as to enable them to contribute fully.

•	Set up, track  and resolve all project level issues and take corrective actions where necessary on BPO and ITO processes, project plan and budgeting. 

•	Develop and maintain status reports and communications, conduct PMO update meetings with all stakeholders on weekly basis. Successfully implemented a gantt chart to keep track of tasks and key dates  to monitor percentage of completion of the project work progress. 

•	Maintain good relations with the regulatory authorities, card associations and business partners. Successfully accelerated the Issuing license process from Visa International within a very short period of time. 

•	Formulate and implement marketing and business development strategy for Cards Business while sustaining and building upon the brand position for the company.

Head of Cards

•	Devised and executed sales, marketing and business initiatives.Grew the active card user base from 60% to 65% for 2016. Grew the card sales volume by 9% Y-o-Y, from RM1.02Bil to RM1.11Bil in 2016, with the implementation of 52 weeks marketing calendar. 

•	Developed the 4 Ps for launching a new credit card product, targeted mainly mass customer segment to increase market share and profitability through cross-selling and strategic alliance program. Championed the development and launch of AEON BiG Co-Brand credit card with payWave contactless payment technology in Sept’15. Total number of cards issued - 25,000 as of Apr’17.

•	Formulated and executed card retention strategies to minimize attrition and enhance customer loyalty through CRM tactical initiatives such as Email, SMS, Outbound calling and Direct Mail campaign. Reduced the card attrition rate Y-o-Y from 70% to 66% for 2016. 

•	Managed annual RM7.0Mil marketing budget. Developed strategies to maximize impact of marketing campaigns and develop ties to co-market campaigns.

•	Managed projects from inception to conclusion optimization. Spearheaded the Chip N Pin project for credit and prepaid cards processing as mandated by BNM. 

•	Developed strategies to ensure a continued application of effective card issuance programs and procedures. Devised and implemented ‘staff get member program’ and ‘sales challenge – cash prizes, tech gadgets and holiday trips’ for sales force to move sales. Revamped existing sales incentive/compensation model across multiple channels to improve productivity.               

•	Devised and implemented effective lean strategies to improve efficiency and reduce OpEx. Led e-Statement deployment and managed to optimize OpEx by an average of RM 2.0Mil per month from 2015 onwards.

•	Led a team of sixteen to establish performance standards and to monitor the output of each employee through ongoing feedback, coaching and frequent check-ins on goals during weekly meetings.

Head of Credit Card

•	Developed effective strategies and expanded existing billers base e.g. 500 for CIMB Clicks Internet Banking by focusing on revenue generating billers via available electronic payment channels e.g. Online Bill Payments, SST, ATM, CDM and Mobile Banking with recruitment of 15 new merchants.Increased sales volume by 40% – 50% yearly.

•	Identified and executed product bundling efforts with right pricing strategies by recruiting quality billers with the objective of striking deals and initiatives that have large market impact through multiple channels e.g. Auto Payment Service, Online Bill Payments via CASA/Credit Card and JomPay (National Bill Payment Scheme). Significant achievements include:

1) Championed bank’s entry into Clicks Online Bill Payment Channel via credit/debit cards, a hold-out project for over 4 years, by achieving 100% of the target via  recruitment of > 15 key merchants within 12 months 

2)Implemented the Auto Payment Service program to drive usage and increase billings with recruitment of 8 new key merchants to revitalize a mature product. 

•	Supported and executed various tactical marketing campaigns across all digital channels e.g. PayBills and Win fabulous prizes, to drive traffic, increase brand awareness and web presence. Increased transaction volume by 30% – 40% yearly.  

•	Designed and implemented SOPs and control systems of inactive merchants with zero transaction volume for > 1 year to prune out non-performers. 

•	Interfaced and worked closely with IT support team/vendors to implement the new/enhanced system/functionality. Succeeded in cutting back the turnaround time by 20% – 30% during design, development and testing for real time payment update initiative.

•	Monitored and analyzed project activities by improving communication, identifying resources and potential solutions that are practical and effective to address unforeseen issues as they arise with implementation of an effective project recovery intervention.

AVP, Tech Banking / Merchant Partner Solutions

•	Managed the administration and daily operations of the outlet.

•	Promoted and sold Easy by RHB banking products e.g. personal loans, ASB loans, debit cards, insurance and savings. Delivered new product sales of RM 5.2Mil versus the target of RM5.0Mil by introducing new marketing initiatives, implementing innovative sales techniques and reengineering sluggish sales force.

•	Developed and implemented sales initiative programs to achieve the outlet’s goals and sales target. Recognized as one of the top performer outlet, exceeded sales quotas by lifting up both Kajang & Bandar Tasik Selatan outlet’s rank from bottom five to Top 20 out of 50 Easy stand-alone outlets.

•	Ensured compliance to the internal policies and procedures and BNM’s guidelines and regulations.

•	 Analyzed gaps/non-compliances to undertake corrective actions on Money Laundering and KYC.

•	Identified and improved critical customer experiences to drive net promoter score – drive resolution of customer issues and regulatory matters.
•	Provided all RHB customers with prompt, quality service on all RHB product areas as per service level agreements, including preventive maintenance service.

•	Led a sales team of 5 effectively to establish performance standards for attainment of greater incentive.

Outlet Manager

•	Led a 5 strong sales team to grow market share and profitability for POS,MOTO, E-Commerce, EzyPay and Recurring payments.  Grew the card sales volume by 5% Y-o-Y, from RM2.0Bil to RM2.1Bil in 2008.
 
•	Executed commercial strategies to grow the Amex business through the acquisition of new merchants, deepening the relationship with existing and developing new business opportunities through product bundling with JCB, MasterCard and Visa card acceptance. Championed Top 60 Amex Holdout merchant prospects via recruitment of targeted merchants for restaurant segment e.g. Secret Recipe, Sakae Sushi etc. by generating RM1.5Mil additional sales and by adding RM50,000 to the bottom line.

•	Built and managed relationships, understood business indicators, anticipated problems and   developed solutions involving key merchants in travel and entertainment, oil and gas, high end retail, FMCG and telecommunication segments. Significant achievements include: 

1)	Handled RFP responses by negotiating contract renewal with Shell, being the biggest key account by securing organic growth of RM1.3Bil per annum and growing the accounts by an average of 7 % in revenue annually for both Amex and Credit Cards.

2)	Successfully recruited Maxis for telco segment and Valiram Group for high end retail by generating additional sales of approximately RM100Mil per year.

•	Developed planning processes and planning direction, including strategic,marketing and financial templates that created a consistent and effective basis for reviews across organization. Applied global experiences and localized process from Amex, GNS-Singapore to create relevance to Malaysia, which involved learning.

•	Provided after-sales service to merchants which includes service contracts, training and consultancy.