PayU India CEO Anirban Mukherjee Elevated To Fintech’s Global CEO Role

Amid the ongoing leadership changes in Prosus-owned fintech platform PayU, the CEO of PayU India, Anirban Mukherjee, has been elevated to the position of CEO at PayU.

In his new role, Mukherjee will join the Prosus leadership team and report directly to Prosus and Naspers’ interim CEO Ervin Tu. He will be responsible for the overall business operations of PayU, said the company in a media statement.

“Our focus is to fortify our position by placing our customers at the core of our operations, capitalising on India’s immense fintech potential, and concurrently establishing the highest standards of governance, risk mitigation, and compliance to align with the regulator’s progressive vision for India’s financial ecosystem,” said PayU.

PayU’s former CEO Laurent Le Moal will be stepping down from day-to-day operations. Reports about Moal’s exits have been doing rounds since August this year.

The major rejig in the Netherlands-based organisation comes months after Prosus sold PayU’s Global Payments Organisation (GPO) to Israel’s Rapyd for $610 Mn, shifting focus to operations in India, Southeast Asia, and Turkey.

Following the restructuring, reports emerged that Moal and PayU CFO Aakash Moondhra might resign.

As per PayU’s statement, Moal will remain with Prosus and PayU in an advisory capacity.

“As part of the transition to an Indian-focused strategy for PayU, now is the right time for Anirban to run the PayU business. Innovation and progressive regulation are driving rapid change within the digital payments industry in India, and we see many opportunities to support the next phase of growth for PayU,” said Tu.

We must note that Tu was appointed last month as interim CEO of Prosus and Naspers after the former CEO Bob van Dijk stepped down from his role.

With an increased focus on the Indian market, PayU is also exploring options for a public listing of its domestic entities.

“In addition to our India-centric approach, we are witnessing accelerated growth in Southeast Asia, and we see a vast opportunity in this region to grow and innovate further,” the company said in its latest statement.

PayU claims to currently serve over 450,000 merchants, over 70 large banks via its paytech platform Wibmo, and more than 2 Mn customers with credit facilities in India.

“PayU is built in India for India and beyond, and today we run a successful payments and credit business riding on a locally rooted technology stack. Our ambition is to outpace the market with strong profitability. We’re deeply committed to driving digitisation and financial inclusion, especially for small merchants,” said PayU CEO, Mukherjee.

He further stated that the synergy of the government’s digital India initiative and RBI’s “forward-thinking” regulation presents a great opportunity for PayU to build a robust fintech franchise in the country. 

“Prosus has been vital in PayU’s growth, and we will collaborate closely with Ervin and the Prosus team as we enter the next phase of PayU’s journey in India and Southeast Asia,” he added.

As per Inc42’s analysis, the total addressable market (TAM) for fintech in India is expected to reach $2.1 Tn by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18% between 2022 and 2030.