Tahir Waquar ali
Summary
With over 30 years of experience in middle and senior management positions, consistently delivering projects on schedule and within budget. Excellent leadership, resource management, team building, and communication skills instrumental in achieving results. Strong competency in banking processes, financial and project management, and translating business requirements into technical specifications. Strong analytical and presentation skills utilized to establish interactive business stakeholder partnerships. Experience setting up greenfield operations and running operations/projects in established banks with full accountability for all activities including budgets, strategy, and department operations. Transformed IT through process re-engineering, building an agile and scalable system environment that significantly reduced time-to-market capabilities.
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Digital Banking, General Manager
Habib Bank Limited
11.2013 - Current
- Involved in the development of Technology vision encompassing strategy, planning, implementation, support, performance monitoring, software development, Information Security, Technology Risk management, procurement, vendor management and budgeting along with customer delivery
- Transformed IT operations through re-engineering of processes, building an agile and scalable system environment with a reduced time-to-market capability and contribution to the economic profitability of the institution through a proactive approach
- Heading the IT Solutions design and implementation team responsible for a large portfolio of applications in Pakistan / International locations managing over 53 critical applications across various internal stakeholders
- Initiatives on consolidation of applications to the best-of-breed to reduce the technical debt and a focus on Process Reengineering, Microservices, Open banking and Customer centricity
- Some of the key enablement include: Record SME unsecured lending, Highest Islamic Car Finance ENR, Highest Card loans under RDA, Disbursement of over 24 billion loans through Mobile, Record POS spending of over 32Billion, Tokenization (Credit & Debit cards), Facial recognition and alerts for Prestige customers across all branches, Mobile application for Treasury 'Symphony', Introduction of a new Consumer Loan application to reduce the cost of doing business and shorten time to market, Digital Car loan through mobile, Card Personalization (centralized and instant issuance), One Window operations for Remittance payment across all branches, Migration to VISA 3D secure, Upgrade of Treasury and Trade application (Pakistan & International Territories), Implementation of IBM Safer Payments application (Fraud Risk management System), Added numerous transactions in the automated transaction reconciliation application (Corona), Implementation of additional modules in SAS Application to monitor Operational Risk, Migration of Oracle HRMS to Cloud
- Skills: Cards issuance & Acquiring, Loan originations, Trade Services, Treasury systems, Facial Recognition through AI, IT Service Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Banking, Resource Management, Program Management, Enterprise Architecture, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- Championed an agile project management approach within the digital department to improve efficiency and responsiveness to rapidly shifting market demands.
- Conducted competitor analysis regularly to stay ahead of industry trends and identify opportunities for differentiation within the market.
- Created landing pages and user funnels designed to capture leads, resulting in increased customer acquisition rates.
- Maximized online sales with the development of user-friendly e-commerce websites and targeted email marketing campaigns.
Chief Information Officer, Director
Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited - formerly Waseela Microfinance Bank Limited
02.2011 - 10.2013
- Member of the Management team, and part of the banks’ steering and strategy committee, responsible for Information Technology in the greenfield project with the biggest telecom operator in Pakistan, Mobilink, for providing formal and branchless banking services
- Also developed and implemented a strategy for core microfinance, inclusive of alternate distribution channels, e-Banking and loans onboarding and the Branchless banking with supported interfaces to ensure automated processes and reduced operational management overheads and carried out various re-engineering of processes
- Improved customer satisfaction levels with the development and implementation of user-friendly interfaces and applications.
- Established a culture of continuous improvement within the IT department through regular performance evaluations and skill development opportunities.
- Accelerated software development lifecycles by adopting agile methodologies, improving time-to-market for critical projects.
- Led digital transformation initiatives to modernize business processes and improve overall efficiency.
Senior Manager Service Delivery & Infrastructure, Senior Vice President
Faysal Bank Limited (acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland)
01.2011 - 02.2011
- Responsible for the consolidation and streamlining of Standard Operating Processes and cost reduction of IT expense footprint through workshops with internal and external stakeholder
- Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.
- Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones and deliver high-quality results.
- Established strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, ensuring long-term partnerships and repeat business.
- Improved team performance by providing comprehensive training and fostering a collaborative work environment.
Chief Technology Officer, Vice President II
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
05.2006 - 12.2010
- Responsible for managing the Technical track in the acquisition of Prime Commercial Bank Limited and was also part of the change transformation team
- Was also the Technical lead for the implementation of Islamic banking, as the group’s pilot project
Head of Application Development, Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
07.2005 - 05.2006
- Application Development and enhancement of key in-house applications covering areas of cash, trade, general consumer banking as well as integration with other systems such as for AML, Basel II, reconciliation, and streamlining of project priorities by setting up an IT-Business project review forum
- Cultivated strong relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, vendors, regulators, and community leaders to promote collaboration and long-term success.
- Led cross-functional teams for the successful completion of major projects, resulting in increased efficiency and client satisfaction.
- Demonstrated proficient leadership skills to motivate employees and build competent teams.
- Collaborated with senior management to develop strategic initiatives and long term goals.
Head of Application Support, Assistant Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
06.2004 - 07.2005
- Technical lead for setting up of Data Warehouse, Customer relationship management, Credit Cards and Collections Works and setup process and procedures for Technology risk management, Disaster recovery, budgets etc
Infrastructure & Operations Head, Assistant Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
04.1996 - 06.2004
- 24
- 7 monitoring and management of the IT operations and infrastructure of the Bank
- Provided support to infrastructure setup and operations of the 1-Link ATM switch maintaining and meeting agreed SLA with internal and external stakeholders
- Key deliverable included setting up a Citrix Server farm, first outside of the regional office, for centralized deployment of critical banking applications and successfully carrying out the Y2K project as the project lead
Network Consultant
GN Comtext
UK
12.1992 - 03.1996
- Company Overview: London, UK
- Liaison with major Telecom partners, inclusive of British Telecom, Sprint, MCI for traffic and cost management of a worldwide data network and maintained routing, configuration of global network
- London, UK
Service Engineer
Banctec Ltd
UK
03.1990 - 11.1992
- Responsibilities included maintenance and repair of reader/sorter machines used in the payment receivables in various organizations across the Greater London area
Education
Master of Business Administration - M.I.S
PIMSAT
Bachelor of Computer Science -
Diploma in Project Management -
Skills
- Cards Issuance & Acquiring
- Loan Originations
- Trade Services
- Treasury Systems
- Facial Recognition through AI
- IT Service Management
- Business Intelligence
- Mobile Banking
- Resource Management
- Program Management
- Enterprise Architecture
- Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Awards
- Award for Rs 25 billion disbursement through Mobile (HBL)
- Certificate of Appreciation for HBL Home Loan (HBL)
- Certificate of Appreciation for EMV & Platinum Card (HBL)
- Star Performance Award (WMBL)
- Outstanding Achievement Award (RBS)
- Key Director, Operations Centralization Project (RBS)
- One Bank, No Boundaries (Cross-Business Units Collaboration Award within APAC region) (ABN)
- ABN AMRO Leadership Program (ABN)
- Prime Commercial Bank Acquisition (Integration, Application migration & Consolidation lead) (ABN)
- Islamic Banking Implementation (ABN)
Personal Information
- Number of Children: 2
- Nationality: British Pakistani
- Marital Status: Married
Languages
Urdu
Native language
English
Proficient
C2
Timeline
Head of Digital Banking, General Manager
Habib Bank Limited
11.2013 - Current
Chief Information Officer, Director
Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited - formerly Waseela Microfinance Bank Limited
02.2011 - 10.2013
Senior Manager Service Delivery & Infrastructure, Senior Vice President
Faysal Bank Limited (acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland)
01.2011 - 02.2011
Chief Technology Officer, Vice President II
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
05.2006 - 12.2010
Head of Application Development, Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
07.2005 - 05.2006
Head of Application Support, Assistant Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
06.2004 - 07.2005
Infrastructure & Operations Head, Assistant Vice President
The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (Formerly ABN AMRO BANK NV, Karachi, Pakistan)
04.1996 - 06.2004
Network Consultant
GN Comtext
12.1992 - 03.1996
Service Engineer
Banctec Ltd
03.1990 - 11.1992
Bachelor of Computer Science -
Diploma in Project Management -
Master of Business Administration - M.I.S
PIMSAT