Discover Financial Services, a digital bank and payment services provider, has appointed Bharat Panchal as Chief Industry Relations & Regulatory Officer — India.
Panchal, who has established himself as a thought leader in India’s digital banking space through his extensive knowledge of risk and cybersecurity, will be responsible for policy, regulatory, and industry relations of Discover Financial Services, headquartered in Illinois, United States.
Panchal previously served as Chief Risk Officer for India, the Middle East, and Africa at FIS Global, where he was responsible for developing a risk culture within FIS and its ecosystem through the design, implementation, and monitoring of risk controls.
Prior to this, he worked as the Chief of Risk Management for the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), where he handled critical functions such as enterprise risk management, compliance, operational risk management, ecosystem cyber security, fraud management, and anti-money laundering. Panchal has also worked with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citi, Reliance Communications, and Tata Telecom.
Panchal has an MBA in Information Systems and over 26 years of extensive risk management experience, primarily in the banking and telecommunications industries. Bharat has been recognised by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) with the prestigious ‘Security Leader of the Year’ Award in 2014 and 2017 for his significant contribution to cybersecurity in the banking sector. He has served on numerous Government of India and RBI cyber security committees.
