BharatPe Group appoints Aparna Kuppuswamy as chief risk officer

Prior to joining BharatPe, Kuppuswamy was chief risk officer at SBI Cards for more than 14 years, where she led a number of key projects

BharatPe Group on Monday appointed Aparna Kuppuswamy as Chief Risk Officer as the fintech start-up gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). In her new role, she will be leading the risk portfolio across the BharatPe Group of companies, including the merchant and consumer businesses.

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

"Aparna with her in-depth understanding of all facets of risk strategy, credit policy, and portfolio management, as well as extensive industry and product knowledge, will play a vital role in the next phase of our growth story as well as helping us become IPO-ready." Negi said.

"Additionally, Aparna’s understanding of the consumer side of financial services will help us build cutting-edge products that are not only relevant but also risk aversive. Lastly, 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 be working closely with Kuppuswamy and will be investing more of his time on collections and underwriting, from a merchant standpoint.

Prior to joining BharatPe, Kuppuswamy was the Chief Risk Officer at SBI Cards for more than 14 years, where she led a number of key projects. Before that, she held the post of Director, Credit Policy, at Ameriprise Financial. She has also held leadership roles at ABN AMRO Bank and Bank of America.

"At BharatPe, we are committed to addressing the $380 billion credit gap for MSMEs and small merchants. In the coming months, we will aggressively focus on building the lending business across Bharat as well as roll out a range of credit products for our merchant partners and consumers," Negi added.