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Mother Dairy launches ‘SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’
MUMBAI: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable has strategically tied-up with State Bank of India (SBI) to launch ‘SBI – Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’ for Mother Dairy Milk Booths in Delhi & NCR.
The first-of-a-kind initiative in the dairy industry will facilitate consumers towards a more convenient mode of payment at Mother Dairy milk booths. These SmartChange Cards will allow the consumers to pay conveniently through this card instead of paying cash and particularly coins, for every purchase at the Mother Dairy booths.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable MD S Nagarajan said, “At Mother Dairy we believe in always keeping our stakeholders at the core of all our activities. We realised that we had a dual problem of tendering exact change to consumers after purchase from booths and also for cash handling hassle for concessionaire due to usage of coins. While it left the consumers peeved, it was also not always possible for retailers to tender exact change all the time. This made us realise that while consumers were looking at a solution to this problem, so are the retailers who even do not like seeing consumers returning unhappy. Hence, we decided to launch the SmartChange Cards at our booths. We are hoping this initiative will start a trend and will ease the life of consumers further in the long-run.”
Nagarajan further added, “While the solution to the problem was apparent our next step was to find the right partner for this project. The choice to tie-up with SBI was not difficult, keeping in mind its strength and capabilities to provide this initiative with the required back- end support and infrastructure.”
State Bank of India corporate strategy and new businesses deputy MD SK Mishra said, “State Bank has always been the principal Banker for Mother Dairy and has an association with them since decades. Introduction of a “SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card” is a joint initiative to facilitate cashless payment across Mother Dairy Booth outlets. The Card is specifically designed to be easy to use and convenient to cater to the needs of Mother Dairy Booth consumers and is positioned as an alternative to use of small notes / coins at Mother Dairy Outlets. “
With this launch, the SmartChange Card service will now be available to 150 booths in its initial phase of three months.
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YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
