Making of the most connected bank in Bangladesh

A stream of digital initiatives is transforming Mutual Trust Bank and its customer engagement, reveals Khalid Hossin, who heads the bank's digital banking division:

Smriti Pandey: Since when are you a Chief Digital Officer?

Khalid Hossin: Since 2021, I have been the Head of Digital Banking Division (HoDBD), Mutual Trust Bank.

Briefly describe your first major project as CDO? My first major project as Head of Digital Banking Division was establishing Open Banking Ecosystem so that MTB can offer BaaS (Banking as a Service). The main challenge was that our core banking solution's (CBS) requirements had been finalized much earlier without the vision of Open Banking, and also CBS at that time lacked the vision for Open Banking, and so hardly any APIs were available. So, later, when I took over as HoDBD, I had to lead the initiative to transform the existing CBS to an Open Banking-enabler CBS by creating proper API requirements, and ensuring proper API availability and usability. This transformed MTB, as now, we are the most connected bank in Bangladesh having over 35 co-created Open Banking powered digital business products by partnering with 35 fintechs, tech-fins, agri-techs, start-ups,telcos, MFs, aggregators and marketplaces.

Briefly describe one experimental/innovative project that you have recently completed or are in the process of completing, that is associated with a new technology or new financial products. What is its expected impact?