Aparna joins IPO-bound BharatPe Group as Chief Risk Officer

NEW DELHI: Fintech major BharatPe Group on Monday announced to appoint industry veteran Aparna Kuppuswamy as its Chief Risk Officer, who will help the compay get prepared towards its IPO goal.

Prior to joining BharatPe, she was the Chief Risk Officer at SBI Cards for more than 14 years, where she led a number of key projects. Kuppuswamy will lead the risk portfolio across the BharatPe Group of companies, including the merchant and consumer businesses.

She will work closely with Nalin Negi, CFO and interim CEO, to further build a robust lending vertical at BharatPe, the company said in a statement.

"We are committed to address the $380 billion credit gap for MSMEs and small merchants. Kuppuswamy will play a vital role in the next phase of our growth story as well as helping us in becoming IPO ready, " said Negi.

"Her expertise in managing the technology risk will ensure we build highly secure products for our merchant partners and consumers, " he added.

Amit Jain, who is currently the Chief Risk Officer of BharatPe, will work closely with Kuppuswamy, investing more of his time on collections and underwriting from a merchant standpoint.

At SBI Cards, she was also a part of the leadership team that took it public. She also defined the risk appetite framework for the company in partnership with frontline business and operational groups as well as working closely with the Risk Management Committee of the Board.

Kuppuswamy also worked at Ameriprise Financial, ABN AMRO Bank and Bank of America. "I look forward to working with the team to build new products, that will make a huge impact on millions of unbanked and underserved businesses and play a key role in making India a truly digital economy, " she said.