Paytm has appointed Ramana Kumar as chief executive officer for its Middle East business. He will lead the company's expansion in the UAE and the broader Middle East.

With over two decades of experience, Kumar last served as founding CEO of Magnati, a payments company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). He also served as executive vice president at FAB, overseeing the bank’s payments and digital banking businesses. Prior to that, he was MD and head of global transaction banking - product and business management at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD).

“We welcome Ramana, who has built a formidable merchant payments business in the UAE. We aim to serve the region by building and bringing strong regional leadership, backed by our proven technology,” Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said. 

Paytm said the company sees strong potential to expand its technology-driven merchant payments and financial services distribution model to international markets. 

"We are exploring select global opportunities as part of our long-term growth strategy, with meaningful results expected over the next few years," the company stated.