S M Zubayer Hussain

S M Zubayer Hussain

Joint Director, Financial Inclusion Department, Bangladesh Bank

Mr. S M Zubayer Hussain is working in the Financial Inclusion Department of Bangladesh Bank (the Central Bank) as Joint Director. During most of his nearly 10 years’ career, he has been involved in financial inclusion-related policy making and supervision activities. He is committed to exploring innovative initiatives to bring financially excluded people under the umbrella of formal financial services.

His major responsibilities include policy formulation related to financial literacy, agent banking, and implementation of NFIS. Mr. Hussain was part of a team that formulated the country’s first-ever financial literacy guideline for the banks and NBFIs. He also contributed to introducing a half-yearly financial inclusion performance rating system to measure and rank the Banks based on their involvement in financial inclusion.

Mr. Hussain represented Bangladesh Bank in different working groups of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). He received various trainings and attended workshops both locally and overseas, including India, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, and Malawi. These interactions broadened his insights and provided hands-on knowledge on various policy areas of financial inclusion.

He is a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner (CDFP), a certificate program offered by the Fletcher School and Digital Frontiers Institute. As a JDS scholar, he completed MA in Economics at the International University of Japan. He also has an MBA degree from the University of Dhaka.

Mr. Hussain loves to travel. He misses no opportunity to learn about new cultures and ways of life. He also has keen interests in sports, books, and numismatics.