Razorpay Ropes In Former RBI Deputy Guv, Others For Its Advisory Board

Bengaluru-based fintech unicorn Razorpay has set up an advisory board, with former RBI deputy governor N.S. Vishwanathan as the chairperson, to enhance its offerings and ensure better corporate governance and compliance in the fast-evolving fintech ecosystem of the country.

The advisory board also comprises Arijit Basu, chairman of HDB Financial Services and former MD of State Bank of India; Aruna Sundararajan, IAS (Retd.) and former secretary of Ministries of Steel, IT & Telecom, GoI; and K. P. Krishnan, IAS (Retd.) and former secretary of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The advisory board has been founded with the singular vision of establishing the highest standards in customer experience, corporate governance, and risk and compliance in the Indian fintech industry, Razorpay said in a statement. The council will also help contribute to the development of Razorpay’s payment infrastructure and help engage with key institutions and stakeholders, it added. 

The advisory board will assist Razorpay in developing long-term strategies, anticipating challenges, and suggesting mitigation measures.

Founded by Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur in 2014 as a payment gateway platform,  Razorpay has expanded to provide multiple solutions including SME payroll management, banking, payments, lending, and insurance. The startup claims to serve over 10 Mn businesses across India. 

Its business banking platform RazorpayX recently rolled out a new product called Forex Service for Startups to help domestic startups seamlessly transfer the funds they have raised globally to India.

“India’s fintech ecosystem is at a crucial juncture in its evolution. With India serving as a benchmark for several nations today, it is pertinent that companies like ours are future-ready and agile to adapt to the ever-changing fintech environment,” said Mathur, CEO and cofounder of Razorpay. 

“Now in our next phase of growth as India’s leading end-to-end money movement platform for businesses, we have a strong intent to put in place further systems to uphold the highest standards of customer experience and governance,” he said, adding that this advisory board gives the company a tremendous opportunity to learn from the industry veterans. 

It must be noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently granted in-principle authorisation to 32 payment aggregators (PAs) to act as online PAs, including Razorpay. With the fast-changing fintech ecosystem in India, the Centre and the RBI have been on their toes to introduce various regulatory changes to better regulate the industry. 

The PA framework was launched in 2020, which mandated only RBI-approved and licenced companies to offer payment services to merchants. 

“India’s rapidly evolving financial sector, it is crucial to foster collaboration with innovative fintech companies to drive progress and deliver superior yet compliant services to businesses and consumers. Joining the Advisory board of an industry leader such as Razorpay provides an opportunity to bring my experience and expertise in governance to help shape the company’s future plans,” said Vishwanathan, the chairman of the advisory board. 

Some of the key areas on which the board will work include accelerating product innovation around customer experience and customer safety, building the best-in-class practices for regulatory and compliance management processes, working with various stakeholders to enhance risk monitoring and cybercrime prevention, and building new processes around digital information security.

Razorpay has also found itself under the lens of investigative agencies as the Enforcement Directorate last month filed a chargesheet against the fintech unicorn and others for money laundering in a Chinese loan app case.

Razorpay’s standalone net profit rose 20% to INR 7.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 6.1 Cr in FY21 helped by strong business growth. The startup’s operating revenue jumped 76% year-on-year to INR 1,481 Cr in FY22.