Yes Bank chief digital officer and group president Ritesh Pai has put in his papers and is understood to be joining a Netherlands-based cross-border payments company, Terrapay, sources have told Moneycontrol.
Yes Bank confirmed Pai’s exit. “Ritesh has had two stints with Yes Bank, first from October 2004 to October 2006 and then from March 2015 to October 15, 2020. After a fruitful tenure, he decided to explore and pursue opportunities outside the bank. We wish him the best for a successful career ahead,” a Yes Bank spokesperson told Moneycontrol.
Terrapay had not responded to an email on queries about Pai’s appointment at the time of publishing of this story.
Pai’s is the latest high-profile exit at Yes Bank following its rescue by a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India after the Reserve Bank of India imposed a moratorium on the cash-starved lender in early March. Rajat Monga, the chief financial officer, and Pralay Monday, the bank’s retail head, too, have quit.
A senior group president at the Mumbai-based private lender, Pai’s second stint with the bank started in 2015. He has served his notice period, sources said, adding he would head the product team at Terrapay.
“Pai had a very fruitful tenure, driving the digital payments strategy at the bank, something that put Yes Bank ahead of many of its competitors,” said one of the sources mentioned above.
Yes Bank has been the preferred partner for fintech startups looking for banking tie-ups. PhonePe and Yes Bank partnership on UPI catapulted both the bank as well as the Walmart- backed entity among the top players in the payments space in the country.
The latest National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) numbers show that Yes Bank was one of the largest processors of UPI transactions in September. UPI is an instant payment system developed by NPCI.
The bank had also pushed forward on the AePS (Aadhaar Enabled Payments System) journey under Pai’s leadership. Again through a partnership model, Yes Bank managed to corner a large chunk of AePS transactions originating in rural and semi-urban India.
When the bank was placed under moratorium, its digital payment channels suffered a massive outage. Eventually, with some relaxations, the fund settlement systems were restored.
Before Yes Bank, Pai worked with almost all the large private lenders of the country, starting with HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank. He also had a stint at BNP Paribas and Dresdner Bank.
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