BharatPe appoints Ex-Union Bank Chairman ‘Kewal Handa’ as Independent Director

Kewal Handa is a seasoned business veteran and he will guide the company to drive its next phase of growth

BharatPe, India’s largest merchant payment company, today announced the appointment of Kewal Handa as an Independent Director. Formerly associated with Union Bank of India and Pfizer, Mr Handa will be joining the Founders – Ashneer and Shashvat, Jitendra Gupta (ex PayU) and Micky Malka (Ribbit) on the Board of BharatPe. He will be mentoring and advising BharatPe on its overall business strategy as it expands across markets and product categories.

With demonstrated leadership and excellence in guiding companies to scale up its positions, Mr Handa has diverse experience in Finance, Commercial, Strategy and Business Development, Corporate Affairs etc. He was the Managing Director of Pfizer Limited, India from 2005 to 2012. Kewal has also been Independent Director at ING Vyasa Bank. Accorded with various national and international awards, his induction to the Board is in line with BharatPe’s effort to strengthen its leadership team to aggressively capture market opportunities. The company has been launching new product and services aimed at enabling merchants to grow their business. It has recently announced its plan of disbursing loans of Rs. 1,000 crores to small merchants across the country in this financial year.

Ashneer Grover, co-founder & CEO, BharatPe, said: “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Handa on our board. His guidance and banking experience will accelerate our financial services business to the next level. In the current scenario, we are aggressively strengthening our lending and payment offerings, and his insights will be of great value in shaping the right strategies for the brand as we scale up. We are confident that Kewal’s diverse experience in building global businesses will help us create a credible and profitable business.”

On his appointment, Kewal Handa said,” I am delighted to be part of BharatPe which has already carved its niche in offering digital payment and lending solutions to merchants. BharatPe is already the 4th largest UPI player in India and largest lender in SME segment.The new normal has augmented the demand for contactless payments in the country and I believe it is the best time to capitalize on it.”

BharatPe has been bolstering its leadership team with hires from the industry. In the recent past, the company has made key hiring at its CXO level including Suhail Sameer as the Group President.