It has been ten years since Sunil Bharti Mittal assumed control of the lender, and now the institution is in the process of a top-level change. The bank’s Board has named Sinha, who is at present an independent director, as Non-Executive Chairperson for a three-year term beginning October 1, 2026. The move has the backing of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
A Decade-Long Chapter Ends as Shabnam Sinha Takes Over
Mittal will be leaving the board on September 30, 2026, concluding his decade with the company. He was appointed non-executive chairman back in April 2016 when Airtel Payments Bank was still putting its operations in place. Under his watch the bank has become a formidable digital financial-services platform with a network of over 500,000 banking points that extends into three quarters of the country’s villages. It now counts some 30 million bank-account customers and more than 121 million monthly active users.
Sinha will be taking over a business of considerable scale.
Who Is Shabnam Sinha? Meet Airtel Payments Bank’s New Chair
Her credentials include over 30 years in public policy, institutional transformation and development finance. While at the World Bank she put in time advising institutions and governments in Asia, Africa and Europe on matters of governance and risk management. She is no stranger to Airtel Payments Bank; in her current capacity she sits on the Risk Management and IT Committees and heads the Special Committee for Monitoring Frauds, functions of growing import as digital banking proliferates.
Why Shabnam Sinha’s Appointment Matters
Recent figures show the bank posted a net profit of ₹109 crore on FY26 revenue of ₹3,207 crore. But the transition is about more than the numbers. Airtel has progressed from simple payments to full consumer and enterprise banking. For the customer base, this is not an immediate shift in how they do their banking, but rather a promise of what is to come in terms of fraud controls, wider inclusion and better digital offerings.
What’s Next for Airtel Payments Bank?
With India’s digital payments market only getting more competitive, Sinha’s blend of development-finance acumen and insider knowledge will be put to the test. The task before her is to balance regulatory discipline with growth and technology. In many ways the question is whether Airtel can make the most of the foundation Mittal left behind and convert its vast reach into a new era of sustainable growth.
