Coffee with Alumni Mr. Manish Daswani

On 26^th October, 2015, we were privileged to have an interaction with Manish Daswani, an alumnus of the 2003 batch, for an engaging session over a cup of coffee. The venue for the session was the swanky Bank of America office at Nariman Point in Mumbai. Manish, a payments & cash management professional is currently working as Director, Commercial Cards in the Asia Pacific cards team at Bank of America.

‘Work hard, stay humble and be honest; not just to your work but also to yourself’, was the advice that Manish gave the students before the students asked him about the topics of their interest. Manish explained about his transition from a Marketing graduate at SIMSREE to working as a Banking professional. He emphasized on the fact that every job role does not require one to be an expert in theoretical knowledge. It is equally, if not more important to demonstrate the ability to take ownership and lead by example. He asked the students to focus on developing these softer skills during their tenure at SIMSREE.

Manish then explained the various career options in banking and spoke in detail about corporate banking roles in particular. A healthy discussion followed about thecash management business and the opportunities and threats in the same. Students’ doubts on Mobile Wallets, disruption of banking through fintech, growth of SMEs in India, and the focus of Banks in these areas were cleared by him. Manish also helped the students understand the methods of revenue generation of banks, difference between cash management and treasury, difference between and the importance of Mobile Wallets and Payment Banks and how the introduction of these may affect the Retail Banking sector in the longer term. This was then followed by Manish’s views on digital money, fintech, bitcoin, and contactless cards.

Towards the end, Manish discussed various career options available in the banking sector for students specializing in marketing. He encouraged the students to introspect and to think about their areas of interest and expertise, and to try and establish their careers in an area that they are passionate about. ‘You will probably spend one third of your adult life working– might as well make sure it’s fun’, he concluded.

The Alumni Committee thanks Mr. Manish Daswani for the enriching session and hopes to continue this association.