Tarun Bajaj, a former revenue secretary, and two executives from Walmart have joined PhonePe's board

Tarun Bajaj, a former revenue secretary, and two executives from Walmart have joined PhonePe's board

With the release of the e-commerce-focused Pincode and the stock and mutual fund investing app Share, PhonePe is extending its goals beyond payments. marketplace.

The board appointments were verified by a PhonePe representative via email in response to Moneycontrol.

The financial services and payments app PhonePe has added three new members to its board in an effort to improve governance and clear the path for a potential Indian public listing.

According to a regulatory filing made last month by Moneycontrol, the Walmart-owned mobile payments business has named former revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj, Walmart Chief Financial Officer John D. Rennie, as well as Chief People Officer Donna Morris to its board.

Putting government front and center

With the recent releases of the e-commerce-focused Pincode app as well as the stock and mutual fund app, PhonePe, the fintech giant with the greatest market share for UPI in India, has been extending its goals beyond payments. Shares is an investment app. market.

PhonePe's decision to bolster its board of directors coincides with criticism leveled at Paytm, its bigger competitor, for governance and compliance failings. Because of Paytm Payments Bank's flagrant disdain for legal norms and regulations, the Reserve Bank of India placed a significant restriction on the firm last week.

The board appointments were verified by a PhonePe representative via email in response to Moneycontrol.

We are pleased to report that Mr. Tarun Bajaj will serve as the Chairman of the Risk Committee as well as an Independent Director on the PhonePe board."

A spokesperson for Walmart Inc. said in a statement, "We additionally want to confirm that Mr. John De Rennie, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as well as Ms. Donna Morris, Executive Vice President as well as Chief People Officer, have both joined the PhonePe Board as non-Executive Directors."

fresh look board

This brings the total number of members on the PhonePe board to eight. The current members are Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, who founded the company, Binny Bansal and Rohit Bhagat, who co-founded Flipkart, and Leigh Douglas Hopkins from Walmart.

Before resigning from the Indian government in November 2022, Bajaj, an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre who was born in 1988, held the position of Revenue Secretary.

The 61-year-old has held directorships on the boards of SEBI as well as the RBI's central board in addition to serving on the boards of major banks.

He also assumed leadership as an independent director at FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in December of last year.

Renee also has over 20 years of expertise in financial management and is a finance veteran. Prior to joining Walmart in 2022, he was executive vice president as well as chief financial officer of PayPal.

Morris, who joined Walmart in 2020 from Adobe, where she held the position of chief human resources officer, offers more than 25 years of leadership expertise in the people function.

The goals of PhonePe

Originally created on Flipkart, PhonePe was among the first unicorns to transfer its headquarters from Singapore to India in October 2022. This decision has spurred other start-ups with foreign domiciles to do the same.

In addition to financing $850 million at a $12 billion pre-money value last year, the company recently reorganized its top management team and named four senior executives as CEOs of important business divisions.

Vishal Gupta, a member of the founding team, was elevated to the position of CEO for PhonePe's insurance division, while Hemant Gala assumed control of the loan division.

Meanwhile, Vivek Lohcheb is now in charge of the instant commerce vertical, Pincode, while Ujjwal Jain was elevated to the position of CEO of Sharemarket, the wealth and stockbroking arm.

PhonePe's plans for further development and reorganization are being carried out in tandem with the company's goal of turning a profit soon, which may lead to an IPO.

With the introduction and growth of new goods and operations including smart speakers, fare payments, etc. and insurance distribution, the Walmart-backed company recorded a 77% increase in consolidated sales at Rs 2,914 crore in FY23.

The payments company PhonePe India Pvt Ltd saw a widening of its operational loss before ESOP charges to Rs 1,755 crore. When adjusted (i.e., ESOP expenditures excluded), the operating loss was Rs 159 crore in FY2013 as opposed to Rs 455 crore in FY2012.

Demand is high for bankers and bureaucrats

The former revenue secretary's appointment coincides with Indian fintech businesses' efforts to improve compliance and navigate turbulent regulatory environments.

A lot of fintech companies are adding seasoned bankers and former government employees to their boards.

Razorpay acquired former State Bank of India Managing Director (MD) Arijit Basu, past RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan, as well as retired civil servant Aruna Sundara in April 2023. Jan was the former secretary of the Ministry of Steel, IT & Telecom, Government of India (Member); KP Krishnan was the former secretary of the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India (Member).

According to a statement from Razorpay, the purpose of having a distinct board was to provide fintech startups the authority to create long-term plans, foresee difficulties, and recommend solutions, particularly with regard to regulatory and compliance procedures.

While banking veteran as well as former SBI MD B Sriram was confirmed as an independent director in July of last year, he joined the board of Cred. Meanwhile, fintech platform Slice named former RBI executive director Eugene Karthak as well as former SBI managing director S Vishwanathan as independent directors as well as advisors, respectively.

Rajnish Kumar, a former chairman of the SBI, and BP Kanungo, a former deputy governor of the RBI, were nominated to BharatPe's board.