slice Ropes In Former Kotak Executive Arvind Kathpalia As Chief Risk Advisor

Fintech unicorn slice has roped in Kotak Mahindra Bank’s group president and chief risk officer Arvind Kathpalia as its chief risk advisor.

This comes days after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) gave its nod to the merger of slice with North East Small Finance Bank.

In his new role, Kathpalia will not only provide traditional risk advisory but also play a crucial role in strengthening the capabilities of the merged banking entity, the company said in a statement. 

This involves improving and implementing slice’s internal tools for assessing risk and ensuring a strong risk management framework during the merger process with NESFB.

He started working at Kotak Group in 2009. There his role involved identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring credit, market, operational and liquidity among other risks.

Prior to that, he also held various leadership roles at ANZ Grindlays and Standard Chartered Bank.

Kathpalia said, “It is quite inspiring to witness the dynamic transformation in India’s financial ecosystem, driven by innovative companies that are not merely altering but revolutionising the landscape. slice is a quintessential example of such innovation, and I’m excited to join the team. I look forward to lending my expertise to further enhance the already robust risk management systems in place at the company.” 

“At slice, we’ve always built for the present and now we are looking at strengthening our future. Arvind Kathpalia’s expertise will not only guide slice to scale its existing risk management but also prove beneficial for the new banking entity,” said Rajan Bajaj, Founder-CEO of slice.

This appointment comes close on the heels of the report that CRED’s Risk Management Head, Kunal Kashyap would be joining slice.

In February, slice launched a UPI first prepaid account for all its users, offering a UPI handle (@slice) and a virtual prepaid account enabling users to add money to the virtual account and spend via UPI or card directly or link to any other bank accounts.

Founded in 2016 by Bajaj, slice (previously known as Slicepay) initially functioned as a buy now pay later (BNPL) platform till FY22. It provided a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) similar to a credit card, with no annual fees, interest, or late charges.

Following regulatory actions by the RBI in 2022, which barred NBFCs from extending credit via PPI, slice ceased its PPI service. To navigate regulatory challenges, the company pivoted its business model and initiated discussions for potential mergers.

Slice started offering personal loans and UPI payment services afterwards.

As per FY23 financials, its fee and commission income jumped over 151% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 374.9 Cr in FY23 while interest income on loans surged 252% YoY to INR 471.8 Cr in the year.

slice earned around INR 459 Cr as interest income on portfolio loans, INR 90.3 Cr as processing fee income, and INR 63.3 Cr as internet handling fees. Including other non-operating income and interest income, the slice’s total revenue stood at INR 867.8 Cr in FY23 as against INR 292.9 Cr a year ago.

The company secured INR 75 Cr in debt funding from Stride Ventures towards the end of last year.