Cashfree Payments appoints former RBI exec as Independent Director

Fintech company Cashfree Payments has appointed Abhaya Hota, a former executive of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as an Independent Director. A veteran in the banking and payments industry, Hota, brings over 30 years of experience, including a significant 26-year tenure at the RBI.

Hota's experience includes his role as Managing Director and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), where he was instrumental in the design, development, and implementation of several key payment systems and policies in India. Notably, he played a crucial role in the implementation of MICR technology for cheque clearing, the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and the development of RuPay, India's indigenous credit card scheme.

In addition to his extensive professional experience, Hota holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Political Science, and English Literature with honors, as well as a Master of Arts in Literature. His portfolio includes serving as an Independent Director and Board Chairman at Federal Bank, Independent Director and Chairman at NSE Clearing Limited, and Managing Director and CEO at NPCI.

Welcoming Hota to the board, Akash Sinha, Co-founder and CEO of Cashfree Payments, highlighted the significant value Hota's extensive experience in banking and finance will bring, particularly in terms of governance and strategic policy development. "Hota will be a great asset to the Board and management at Cashfree Payments," Sinha stated.

Commenting on his appointment Hota said, "I am happy to join the Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd’s Board as an Independent Director and look forward to supporting them as they grow and scale India’s digital payments ecosystem."

Last week, Cashfree has appointed Harsh Gupta, former senior vice president at Razorpay, as its new chief revenue officer (CRO)/ A report by Moneycontrol said that Arun Tikoo, who was appointed the chief business officer (CBO) earlier in May would lead international business. At the time of Tikoo's appointment as CBO, Cashfree also announced Ramkumar Venkatesan as chief technology officer (CTO).