MUMBAI: BharatPe has bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of Gautam Kaushik as the second group president in the company. Kaushik, a renowned face in the financial services industry in India, will be working closely with co-founder and CEO Ashneer Grover, and lead payments (including UPI, card acceptance, BharatPe XtraIncome Card, Loyalty) as well as new banking partnerships for the company.

Kaushik is the second senior level appointment made by BharatPe in the new year. The company onboarded Sumeet Singh as the general counsel and head- corporate strategy in January 2021.

A seasoned professional, Kaushik comes with close to two decades of experience in leading successful multi-million dollar businesses in payments and financial services. Prior to joining BharatPe, he was the CEO & MD of Payback India where he was leading the largest coalition loyalty program in the country. He has also held multiple roles during his ten year stint at American Express. He has been the CFO of American Express India business and has also spearheaded many strategic initiatives for the organisation in India and New York, during his stint with the company. Before joining American Express, Kaushik worked for Tata Strategic Management Group in Mumbai as a strategy consultant to key Tata Group companies. He is a graduate in chemical engineering and an MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai.

BharatPe co-founder & CEO Ashneer Grover said, “I’ve worked with Gautam previously at AMEX and have known him for eight years. Gautam is also an angel investor at BharatPe. I am confident that he is the best person to lead our payments vertical. He will be deepening our relationships with our banking partners. Also, it is important for us to build an engaged merchant base and I am confident that Gautam’s experience in building one of the largest customer loyalty program in the country will empower us to do so.”

Added Kaushik, “BharatPe is the fastest growing Fintech startup in the country. The team has done phenomenal work in the past 2.5 years. I believe we enjoy a great opportunity to transform the financial services landscape for merchants across the country and I am looking forward to contributing meaningfully to this journey. Also, I see a huge disruption opportunity from a loyalty standpoint for merchants.”