Even if several of these companies are still in recovery mode, valuation publicity, strict scrutiny by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a shift in investor sentiment away from high-growth, high-risk loan games, exports will appear.
“The tightening of regulation by the Reserve Bank of India has put a huge pressure on financial strategies and compliance. Second, the shift from growth to profitability has made the role of CFO even more demanding. Third, many boards are pushing for governance resets to restore investor trust,” said Rohit Srivastava, senior partner at Executy Search and Consulting. Long house.
Over the past two to three years, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced a series of regulatory tightening measures. The 2022 digital lending guide requires greater disclosure and restrictions on the first loss default guarantee model, as well as other austerity measures.
In November 2023, the central bank directed banks and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) to provide more funds to unsecured loans and asked lenders to adjust their impact on the high-risk retail sector.
Being hit hard, players in the division spent 2024 cleaning up books, cutting dangerous loan portfolios and transferring to secured and co-loan models. When companies focus on stability, compliance and survival, growth regressed, it was a reset of their early breakthrough expansion.
In the larger fintech ecosystem, “…some CFOs have left their own businesses. In many cases, companies are promoting internal candidates or cross-group companies to migrate executives to fill the CFO role. More and more founders (especially those with financial backgrounds) (especially those with CFO responsibilities, especially those with CFO responsibilities, have taken over CFO responsibilities,” added Srivastava Hexple’’Srivastava.
Fintechs including Zerodha, Paytm and Paisabazaar (including Zerodha, Paytm and Paisabazaar) have made nearly twelve CFO transitions in 2023, according to Longhouse, where the average term of office is about 3.5 years. The recent loan exit rate is well below this average, at 1.3 years.
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agitation
Lendingkart, the chief financial officer of Balance Hero and Cashe, all players who offer fast, unsecured credit resigned between December and March, Mint Learned.
Fullerton Financial Holdings supports Lendingkart’s chief financial officer Mukund Barsagade quit the company in December after just nine months of the position Tell Mint. He was previously Mohit Bajaj, who also left within nine months of joining the loan company in 2020.
According to the latest information on his profile on his professional network platform LinkedIn, Barsagade joined Utkarsh Small Finance Bank in December as head of strategy and transformation in December.
Meanwhile, Jayesh Jain, CFO of True Balance, a subsidiary of SoftBank Ventures Asia-backed Heroes, left the company in February. Jain then joined Commercial Vehicle Financier Capital Financing Co., Ltd.
In March, Gaurav Surana, CFO of Bhanix Finance and Investment Ltd Run Cashe, also resigned. A Cashe spokesman confirmed the withdrawal of its current chief financial officer and said Talib Lokhandwala, who had previously served as the company’s chief financial officer before serving in Surana, will re-subscribe in the position.
“In recent years, the unsecured loan sector in India has undergone dynamic changes, and the leadership movement often reflects the growing landscape of the industry. Although we have not recently witnessed CXO-level changes between peer companies, the rapid growth of the industry, regulatory development, regulatory development, competitive pressures and competitive pressures can naturally lead the time of the organization and reach time from time to time and supplement the cash declaration.
Meanwhile, Fullerton-backed Lendingkart has served as CEO of former DBS Bank executive Prashant Joshi, effective April 1, 2025. MoneyControl Report Tuesday. Lendingkart’s leadership change comes after Temasek’s Fullerton Financial Holdings acquired a majority stake in the company.
Lendingkart, once worth $690 million, dropped to about $100 million after last year’s funding round.
At the time of publication, queries sent to Lendingkart and Balance Hero have not been answered. It is not clear whether the two companies have found alternatives.
Leadership continuity for certain functions may become increasingly challenging as many fintechs continue to recalibrate strategies and try to retain investor trust.
Please read also: IPO-bound Lenskart’s CFO exits; may join Indian Coke as Financial Director
