Days after Ujjivan Small Finance Bank roped in HDFC Bank’s digital banking head Nitin Chugh as its next chief executive, the bank has appointed Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal as its independent director.

This is the second big futuristic move by Ujjivan management which is chasing a plan to upgrade itself into a state-of-the-art mass-market bank.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Managing Director Samit Ghosh told an  English daily, “We are trying to change the mindset of our leadership as we are aiming to scale-up business with use of technology to become a mass-market bank. He is an iconic leader in the e-commerce space with phenomenal technological acumen and foresight. His guidance & direction will be very valuable in achieving Ujjivan Bank’s mission of creating a state-of-the-art mass-market bank.”

While Bansal will join the bank board on June 1, Chugh will join the bank in August and take the baton from outgoing CEO Samit Ghosh on December 1.

Meanwhile, Ujjivan Financial Services, which is the holding firm for the bank, has posted an annual net profit at Rs 198.4 Cr as compared with Rs 7.3 Cr in the previous fiscal. The profit growth was boosted by a 46% rise in loan assets to Rs 11,049 Cr and strong asset quality.

Bansal's appointment follows a recent report which suggested that the 37-year-old internet billionaire is keen to explore opportunities at the intersection of technology and user experiences in the banking domain. With these two high profile appointments, it will be interesting to see how soon the bank is able to fructify its plans to become a cutting edge mass-market bank.