CRED Hires slice’s Arvind Kathpalia As Risk Advisor

Fintech unicorn Cred has appointed Arvind Kathpalia, the chief risk advisor of slice, as its new advisor on risk and compliance.

In a statement released to the press, CRED founder, Kunal Shah, said that Kathpalia’s experience in risk management and compliance will be instrumental for the company.

“I’m excited to learn from him as we advance towards that vision,” Shah said.

Notably, Kathpalia is already working with one of CRED’s rivals in the fintech space, slice. CRED’s appointment does not bar him from working with slice, people close to the development told Inc42. He joined the Rajan Bajaj-led unicorn (slice) in May this year to support its newly merged banking unit with North East Small Finance Bank. 

Before joining slice, Kathpalia served Kotak Group for over 25 years – starting in 2009. At Kotak, he was involved in identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring credit, market, operational and liquidity among other risks. He has also held various leadership roles at ANZ Grindlays and Standard Chartered Bank.

Founded in 2018 by Shah, CRED’s initially offered rewards and benefits to premium credit card users for paying their bills. However, it has been on the super app path for the last few years and has launched many new services to monetise its user base. 

Notably, the company’s operating revenue jumped about 71% to INR 2,397 Cr in the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24) from INR 1,400 Cr in FY23. 

However, the company’s net loss also increased in FY24, up 22% compared to last year. In FY23, the company reported a net loss of INR 1,347 Cr, which increased to INR 1,644 Cr in FY24. 

The fintech’s operating loss declined 41% to INR 609 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,024 Cr in the previous year.