Prestige issue 287-288, Dec. Jan. 2017-2018
«It’s important to keep a balance in life»
Passion and innovation, charisma and professionalism, performance and elegance characterize Randa Bdeir. Deputy general manager at Bank Audi, pioneer in credit cards and solutions for payments on line in Lebanon and the region. Happy mother, active and pleasing socialite, her life is at the rhythm of her nature. A sense of organization and communication, and a perpetual quest for knowledge… She opens her heart for an interview with Prestige.
Why did you choose this field? I didn’t choose it, this field chose me. I remember my first contact with a credit card when my fiancé returned from USA, and invited me to dinner. He paid the invoice with a plastic card and not in cash. Since then, I understood the importance of this card that will be my passion.
Tell us about your path…I got married at the age of 18 years old. My husband Saadi Bdeir who studied in United States, considered that the woman had the right to realize her ambitions. He encouraged me to pursue my university studies. I accompanied my daughter Zina to AUB when I was preparing my BS in Business Management. Then Lana, Aya and Dania were born. This was possible due to a rigorous organization of my schedule, and the strict and in full bloom education of my children. From business I started sociology, than banking, a new course at AUB. During the defense of my thesis on public debt, one of the directors of the Central bank proposed I contribute to his research on a law relative to credit cards, inexistent in Lebanon at that time. In 1994, I created the cards department at Fransabank and in 2003 I joined Bank Audi.
How did you develop this department? It is the result of great efforts and rigorous courses. To introduce the credit cards on the Lebanese market, I visited some traders to convince them to use electronic devices. I encouraged the clients to use a card in their purchases. Since 2000, I am a member in the administration council of MasterCard. Today, we can pay an invoice through our mobile or a watch. I followed a session recently at Stanford on the theme «The Corporate Entrepreneur», an elaborate program of studies, to succeed in the change and innovate: seminars, conferences, team projects, to apply new strategies and ideas in work. I succeeded in making quality transformations in my career.
How do you combine these responsibilities? My social life is intense, despite my busy schedule. I am very organized and I think one must respect a fundamental principle in our life: balance between work, form and private life.
A day of Randa Bdeir…It begins with sport at home than I leave for the office. Sometimes I go to some lunch invitations and go back to work. The evening is booked for visits and outings.
What do you dream about? To see women evolve and reach an advanced position of leadership. I also dream of leaving my marks in Lebanese economy.
You are very elegant. How do you sort your outfits? Elegance is part of my personality and my life. It is a plus in my daily life at the office.
You are part of the Lebanese Women Angel Fund…It is a group of twenty women from diverse backgrounds and very competent. We have created networks to finance some promising feminine start-ups.
You launched a prize bearing your name…It is an annual prize, with the cooperation of AUB and its president, Pr Fadlo Khury, in tribute to my husband who supported me through my life. It is dedicated to every person who encourages a woman to realize her projects and succeed in her professional field. A jury studies each case in particular.
What is happiness for you, it’s… A self satisfaction, through helping those who mostly need it. My happiness is to see my daughters who made their engineering studies at AUB, than MIT, continue in their path of women entrepreneurs and of fulfilled mothers.
