Slice, a payments and lending fintech firm, has named Arvind Kathpalia, a former senior executive at Kotak Mahindra Bank, as its chief risk adviser. In this capacity, Kathpalia will focus on enhancing the capabilities of the newly-formed banking entity resulting from the merger of Slice and North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB). This involves implementing Slice’s proprietary underwriting tools and risk framework during the integration with NESFB.
Rajan Bajaj, founder and CEO of Slice, expressed enthusiasm about Kathpalia’s appointment, highlighting his industry expertise and the potential benefits for both Slice and the new banking entity. Bajaj emphasized their aim to establish the most effective risk management system in India under Kathpalia’s guidance.
During his tenure at Kotak Mahindra Bank, Kathpalia served as the president and group chief risk officer, where he was instrumental in building and enhancing the bank’s risk management function. He played a key role in developing frameworks for identifying, assessing, mitigating, and monitoring various risks across the organization. Kathpalia also held leadership positions at ANZ Grindlays and Standard Chartered Bank.
Kathpalia expressed his excitement about joining Slice, acknowledging the transformative role of innovative companies like Slice in India’s financial ecosystem.
The merger between Slice and NESFB, approved by the Reserve Bank of India, aims to strengthen Slice’s credit and banking ambitions by acquiring an SFB license. This strategic move underscores Slice’s commitment to expansion and diversification in the financial services sector.
In recent developments, NESFB appointed Shrimohan Yadav, former chief general manager of RBI, as an independent director, and Satish Kumar Kalra, former executive at Andhra Bank, as interim managing director and CEO to lead the merger process.
Despite regulatory challenges, Slice reported significant revenue growth of Rs 847 crore from its payments and lending business operations during FY23, although its losses increased by 60 percent to Rs 406 crore during the same period.
