Rajan Bajaj appointed as MD and CEO of Slice Small Finance Bank

16 Feb 2026, 05:45 PM

Bajaj, founder of fintech firm Slice, succeeds Satish Kumar Kalra, whose tenure as MD and CEO of Slice SFB has ended.

Team Head&Tale

Small finance bank Slice has appointed Rajan Bajaj as its managing director and chief executive officer, effective February 17, 2026.

Bajaj, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and who previously served as Executive Director of the company, succeeds Satish Kumar Kalra – whose tenure as Slice MD and CEO has come to an end.

Kalra will continue with the bank in the role of a senior advisor, the company said.

The Bengaluru-based fintech Slice was founded by Bajaj in 2016. Slice started as a fintech simplifying credit for young Indians and has since grown into a digital-first bank, offering UPI credit cards, branches in major cities, and inclusive financial services nationwide.

In October 2023, Slice merged with Guwahati-based North East Small Finance Bank after receiving regulatory approval. And, two months after the merger, former MD and CEO of Andhra Bank, Kalra was appointed as the interim MD and CEO of the merged entity.

On the appointment, Rajan Bajaj said, "I am grateful to the Reserve Bank of India and our Board for the confidence they have placed in me. India is a market privileged to have some of the world's best-run financial institutions. slice is a young bank building to earn its place among them, and that means delighting every customer we serve by doing right by them in ways they can feel, from repo rate on savings accounts and interest paid every single day to products that always put the customer first."

Slice claims that it serves more than 20 million users, employs over 3,000 people, and has raised over $250 million from marquee investors including Tiger Global, Insight Partners and Advent International.

The fintech-turned-small finance bank turned profitable in the first half of financial year ending March 2026. However, the losses jumped to Rs 217 crore in FY25 against a loss of Rs 153 crore reported in FY24 – "due to one-time provisions and higher operating expenses incurred ahead of the scheme of arrangement."

The small finance bank reported a pre-ESOP profit of Rs 43 crore for H1 of FY26, according to a report from rating agency Crisil.

However, the company in its press release stated that over the last three quarters of FY26, its profit after tax stood at Rs 27.97 crore.

Slice reported total income of Rs 632 crore during the first half of FY26, compared with Rs 604 crore in the full financial year FY25 and Rs 251 crore in FY24, according to Crisil.

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