Mr. Udaya Kumar Hebbar is the MD & CEO of CreditAccess Grameen Limited (CA Grameen). He is a seasoned banker with a career spanning over 35 yearsin the financial services sector. He has been the architect behind the transformational journey of building the CA Grameen brand as the leading microfinance institution in India and establishing that inclusive finance could succeed with a market-based model. Under his leadership, the institution successfully weathered multiple business cycles, got listed on national stock exchanges, and became a pioneer to undertake inorganic growth routes in the microfinance space by acquiring Madura Microfinance. His vision of following contiguous district-based expansion coupled with a product line concept are some of the unique features in the microfinance industry across the world. This has yielded rich results in form of maintaining a credit culture and the highest client retention rate. CA Grameen is well recognized and accredited with top-notch ratings and awarded numerous prestigious accolades in the financial industry.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Mysore and a Master’s degree in Commerce from Karnatak University, Dharwad. He is a certificated associate from the Indian Institute of Bankers and holds a Diploma from Vanderbilt University.
Prior to joining CA Grameen, Mr. Hebbar held various leadership roles across the Operation, Credit, and Business Development profile. He was the Head of Commercial Banking and Payment Operations at Barclays Bank PLC and had successful stints of over a decade each in Corporation Bank and ICICI Bank. He also serves as a Director on the board of Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), Madura Micro Finance Limited, Alpha Micro Finance Consultants Private Limited, and was the former Chairman at MFIN.
