Best of Best Review is proud to recognize Ratib Zaman as the Best Finance Entrepreneur in Melbourne, Australia of 2026, acknowledging his entrepreneurial journey, leadership and forward looking approach to the future of Australian financial services.

Ratib's story is not simply about finance. It is about building, adapting and looking beyond the conventional path.

After migrating from Bangladesh to Australia in 2014, Ratib began building his career in a new country. His professional experience has since extended across finance, mortgage and asset lending, business management, government project management and automotive retail.

That varied background has helped shape the way he approaches business today. Rather than viewing finance as a traditional industry with fixed rules, Ratib sees an opportunity to combine financial expertise with technology, entrepreneurship and automation.

From Migrant to Business Builder

Ratib's journey in Australia has been defined by ambition rather than simply following an established career path.

Over the years, he has been involved in building businesses that have employed more than 100 people across different stages of their growth. Those experiences have given him an understanding of what it takes to develop teams, create opportunities and turn ideas into functioning businesses.

For Ratib, entrepreneurship is ultimately about creating something that can continue to grow beyond the individual who started it.

That mindset is increasingly evident in the way he approaches financial services. His focus is not limited to building a successful company for himself. He wants to create an environment where other finance professionals can build successful businesses of their own.

Challenging the Traditional Broking Model

One of Ratib's clearest philosophies is captured in a simple statement: “We don’t want to buy brokers. We want to build brokers.”

That idea sits behind his work at Oxcel Finance, where he is building a national finance broking and aggregation network with a particular focus on asset finance.

The distinction matters.

Rather than viewing brokers simply as acquisitions or revenue sources, Ratib wants their success to become part of the measurement of the business itself. Training, lender access, operational support, technology and AI driven infrastructure are all intended to help brokers develop stronger and more sustainable businesses.

It is a model that reflects Ratib's broader approach to leadership. Build people, provide them with the right tools and create an environment where their own ambition can flourish.

Technology Should Create More Human Finance

Artificial intelligence and automation are central to Ratib's vision for the future.

He believes technology will increasingly take responsibility for administrative work, repetitive processing and other time consuming tasks that have traditionally consumed a significant part of a finance professional's day.

That does not mean removing the human element from finance. Ratib sees almost the opposite happening.

As technology handles more of the operational workload, he believes the strongest finance professionals will have more time to focus on relationships, negotiation, deal structuring, judgement and opportunity creation.

His philosophy can be summed up in another statement: “Technology shouldn’t replace the ambition of a great broker. It should remove everything that gets in the way of it.”

For Ratib, technology is therefore not the destination. It is the infrastructure that allows people to perform at a higher level.

Leadership Through Opportunity

What distinguishes Ratib's entrepreneurial philosophy is the importance he places on creating opportunities for others.

His approach to business is increasingly centred on the idea that growth should not be measured solely by a company's own revenue or size. The businesses and professionals operating within its ecosystem should have the opportunity to become more successful as well.

That perspective influences the way he thinks about leadership. Instead of simply asking how quickly a business can grow, Ratib looks at what can be built underneath that growth: capable people, better systems, smarter technology and sustainable businesses.

It is a practical approach to entrepreneurship, grounded in the belief that ambitious people perform better when they have the right environment around them.

Oxcel Finance as an Expression of the Vision

Oxcel Finance provides a tangible example of where Ratib's thinking is heading.

The business is being developed as a technology led finance network, with asset finance at its core and an ambition to build a significant national presence. Ratib's longer term objective is for Oxcel to become Australia's number one asset finance brand by 2030.

But the company's ambition is only one part of the story.

For Best of Best Review, the more significant factor is the philosophy behind it. Ratib is attempting to build a finance business where technology performs more of the heavy lifting while brokers are given greater freedom to concentrate on the activities that require human judgement and connection.

That combination of entrepreneurship, finance and technology reflects the direction Ratib believes the industry is heading.

Looking Beyond the Traditional Finance Career

Ratib Zaman represents a generation of Australian entrepreneurs who are approaching established industries with a willingness to rethink how they operate.

His journey from Bangladesh to Australia, his experience building businesses and his focus on technology driven financial services have brought him to a point where his ambitions extend well beyond operating a conventional finance brokerage.

The award of Best Finance Entrepreneur in Melbourne, Australia of 2026 recognizes that broader entrepreneurial vision.

Ratib's story is ultimately about what can happen when finance expertise is combined with curiosity, calculated risk taking and a willingness to challenge established models.

His objective is not simply to build another finance business. It is to help shape what the next generation of Australian finance professionals can look like, with people focused on relationships, judgement and deals, supported by technology that removes unnecessary friction.

For Best of Best Review, that combination of ambition, leadership and forward thinking makes Ratib Zaman a noteworthy finance entrepreneur to watch.

Connect with Ratib Zaman, LinkedIn, Oxcel Finance, Oxcel Brokers, and Facebook.