Adewale Akinrinde was born and raised in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
His early education at Command Children School Ikeja and Command Secondary School Ipaja laid a firm foundation for a life marked by curiosity and ambition.
He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan, an early testament to his love for analytical thinking and structured problem-solving.
After over a decade of steering groundbreaking financial inclusivity innovations in Nigeria, it was time for Adewale to move to the United Kingdom where he continued his academic pursuit of excellence to earn a Certificate in International Retail Banking from the Retail Banking Institute, London. He later moved on to the United States of America, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at the Quantic School of Business and Technology, Washington DC in 2021 and the following year, he bagged another Master’s in Product Management at Maryland Institute College of Arts, Baltimore, Maryland. This rare combination of skill upscaling in quantitative analysis, strategic thinking, and creative design contributed to the shaping and sharpening of a unique leadership style that blends technology and empathy, products and people.
A seasoned finance and product strategy executive with over 20 years of experience, he is driving innovation and operational excellence in the banking and financial services sector. He is renowned for driving financial inclusiveness through adoption of technological platforms to pioneer digital and mobile banking services that broke geographical and cultural barriers in Nigeria. His expertise lies in designing customer-centric financial products, steering high-impact digital transformation initiatives, and fostering financial inclusion across emerging markets.
Throughout his career, Adewale has held leadership roles in top-tier financial institutions where he led multi-disciplinary teams across product development, retail banking, digital strategy, and business transformation. He has a proven track record of delivering scalable solutions that balance profitability with social impact—especially in underserved communities.
Adewale is particularly recognized for his ability to bridge traditional banking systems with cutting-edge financial technology, delivering digital products that enhance customer experience while meeting regulatory and market demands. His strategic vision and data-driven decision-making have consistently contributed to revenue growth, operational efficiency, and market expansion.
Over the years, Adewale has garnered key competencies in multifaceted management areas, such as Mobile & Digital Financial Services; Market Analysis & Segmentation; Distribution, Sales & Service Management; Strategic Planning & Implementation; Customer Experience Design; Business & Consumer Analytics; Investment Banking; Propositions/Products & Channel Development; Training & Team Building; Regulatory Compliance; Strategic Marketing; Financial Advisory & Wealth Management and more.
Young Akinrinde began his career in the financial services industry with enthusiasm, looking forward to a great future, like every other young Nigerian who was fortunate and able to grab a job in the financial sector. For him, the possibility of working in the financial services industry was beyond a mark of good luck. He had prepared firmly on a solid academic background, armed with the professional skills, and a mind resonating with ambition.
Moving up from Access Bank where he left an indelible mark as leader of the team that pioneered digital banking to drive financial inclusion of the unbanked low-literate market women, codenamed, “BETA Savings,” he joined Sterling Bank in 2014 as Assistant General Manager, heading a segment of the bank called Propositions, Products & Programmes.
His core responsibilities were to deepen the bank’s market penetration through customised products for different markets and drive general sales and profitability. As the product leader, he led the team, which devised and deployed a sales force model for consistent execution of positive customer interactions, designed training programs and evaluated performances to support sales initiatives and develop skills and techniques to improve business relationships.
At the time digital banking was at a very low ebb, he pioneered Mobile Payment Solutions at Sterling Bank, collaborating with Lenovo International to develop Nigeria’s first mobile device payment program. The program sold 100,000 smartphones in a year, with no single default case. The second was the design and deployment of innovative products focused on small businesses and private consumers, resulting in a 100 percent increase in the number of savings accounts for the bank, raking in over $2 million in revenue, while achieving over 1 million new customers within a year. He also developed a marketing initiative that encouraged teenagers to open bank accounts, leading to successful increase in deposits by 150 percent while on- boarding 50, 000 new customers of that demography.
The quest, pursuit of excellence, knowledge sharing, empowerment and team spirit propelled the design and launch of a proprietary digital platform that improved internal product training, product knowledge and understanding by 100 per cent and allowed for a sustainable and geometric increase in sales. Driving an aggressive financial Inclusion for all Nigerians through innovations in retail banking, he led an initiative that created a digital version of ‘Piggy bank’ for kids (with a mobile app), the first of its kind in in the nation’s banking industry, which allowed an entire family to track the savings pattern of the children, thereby enhancing the financial literacy of children at an early age
Adewale had led a team that became veritable and indispensable for Sterling Bank’s success story, which has shaped the bank to its current status. Some of his later initiatives at the bank include community investment and unique banking business capacity. In partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; he supervised the disbursement and recovery of $5 million in loans to 1,000 small business owners over 12 months. He also founded and headed the Sterling Bank Small Business Academy, under which he trained almost 2,000 entrepreneurs in two years, culminating each cohort with a business showcase fair.
However, in achieving these, Adewale faced several challenges, but there was always an answer where his passion and hunger for success wets the ground of every challenge.
By championing financial literacy, accessibility, and product design rooted in real human experience, he has left a legacy that transcends banking. He has turned fintech into a tool for social transformation, proving that technology, when wielded with empathy and strategy, can change lives.
His fascination with finance was not just academic. Even as a young man, he saw the power of financial systems to transform lives. “I believe finance, when combined with technology, is one of the most powerful tools for lifting people out of poverty,” he often says. This belief became a lifelong mission.
“My vision is to lead a financial services firm truly dedicated to lifting up the wealth of low- and lower-income individuals globally,” he stated unequivocally at a banking industry event in 2013. This mission continues to drive his work in fintech, product design, and social enterprise. For Akinrinde, success is not just measured in numbers, but in lives impacted. His belief is simple yet profound: “Whatever is important, you will find time for it.” He teaches that we are all leaders—if only we learn to lead our lives first, then others will follow. He maintains his legacy remains “a financial system that leaves no one behind.”
Beyond his corporate milestones, Adewale is also a teacher and consultant. He has served as a financial inclusion speaker at both regional and international events, a mentor in professional and faith-based spaces, and currently sits as Treasurer of the U.S.-based nonprofit Freehold Area Open Door.
He also teaches Christian education within the RCCG (Redeemed Christian Church of God) community, blending faith with purpose in his outreach.
From pioneering mobile banking in Nigeria to steering enterprise innovations in the U.S., Akinrinde’s journey embodies a rare blend of technical expertise, social empathy, and global perspective. As he continues to shape the future of finance, his mission remains clear: to democratise access to financial tools and empower people to build better, more secure lives, one digital product at a time.
Oyedokun is Political Economy writer with BusinessDay
