Razorpay forms advisory board, ropes in former RBI deputy governor as chairperson

Razorpay announces new advisory board.

Fintech unicorn Razorpay announced on April 18 that it has set up an advisory board that will focus on setting up standards around customer experience, governance, compliance, and risk management practices and has roped in NS Vishwanathan, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as the chairperson of the board.

Razorpay's advisory board will also have industry veterans and IAS officers including Arijit Basu, Chairman, HDB Financial Services and former MD, State Bank of India;  Aruna Sundararajan, retired IAS and former secretary, Ministry of Steel and KP Krishnan, another retired IAS officer and former secretary of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as its members.

All the members of the advisory board will periodically convene to review, analyse and provide recommendations and directions on both strategic and tactical levels, the company said in a media statement.

"In our next phase of growth as India’s leading end-to-end money movement platform for businesses, we have a strong intent to put in place further systems to uphold the highest standards of customer experience and governance," said Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Razorpay.

The advisory board will assist Razorpay in developing long-term strategies, anticipating challenges and suggesting mitigation measures, the statement said.

“In light of India’s rapidly evolving financial sector, it is crucial to foster collaboration with innovative fintech companies to drive progress and deliver superior yet compliant services to businesses and consumers," said Vishwanathan.

Founded in 2013 by alumni of IIT Roorkee, Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, Razorpay is the second Indian company to be a part of Silicon Valley’s largest tech accelerator, Y Combinator.

Investors such as Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, TCV, GIC, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Y Combinator and MasterCard have invested a total of $741.5 Mn through Series A to F in funding.

Several fintech companies are either setting up Advisory Board or roping in independent advisors as a good governance practice.

Fintech firm Slice too recently appointed S Vishvanathan, Managing Director of State Bank of India as an Advisor.

Razorpay's advisory board will focus on accelerating product innovation around customer experience and customer safety, building the best-in-class practices for regulatory and compliance management processes and working with various stakeholders to enhance risk monitoring and cybercrime prevention.

"The council will also help contribute to the development of Razorpay’s payment infrastructure and help engage with key institutions and stakeholders," the statement said.