[[{“value”:”
Bengaluru-based UPI payments giant PhonePe has onboarded former Standard Chartered India and South Asia CEO Zarin Daruwala to its board of directors. The move comes as the Walmart-backed firm sharpens its focus on governance and leadership ahead of a planned stock market listing.
Daruwala, who stepped down from Standard Chartered in April after a nine-year stint, brings more than three decades of experience in the banking sector. Her prior 26-year tenure at ICICI Bank included leadership roles across corporate banking, agri-business, and rural banking. Her appointment is now reflected in the company’s official website.
PhonePe began early-stage preparations for its initial public offering in February. The company has not disclosed a specific timeline for the listing, but in recent months, it has taken several formal steps towards becoming IPO-ready. These include a shareholder resolution in April approving a change in the company’s name from “PhonePe Private Limited” to “PhonePe Limited” and designating its top executives—CEO Sameer Nigam, CTO Rahul Chari, CFO Adarsh Nahata, and company secretary Ankit Popat—as key managerial personnel (KMP), as required under listing norms.
Daruwala joins an already high-profile board that includes Teamlease founder Manish Sabharwal, former BlackRock executive Rohit Bhagat, ex-IAS officer Tarun Chugh, and Walmart executives John David Rainey, Donna Morris, and Leigh Hopkins, alongside PhonePe co-founders Nigam and Chari.
The board-level appointment signals PhonePe’s efforts to bolster financial and governance expertise as it transitions from a private unicorn to a public company. It follows an earlier restructuring in which PhonePe shifted its domicile from Singapore to India in December 2022, incurring a reported tax liability of nearly Rs 8,000 crore to comply with Indian tax regulations.
PhonePe remains India’s largest player in the UPI ecosystem, handling nearly half of all UPI transactions. As of FY24, the firm held a 47% market share in UPI payments, according to industry data, ahead of Google Pay (37%) and Paytm (6%).
The company posted a notable financial turnaround in the fiscal year ending March 2024. Revenue rose 73% year-on-year to Rs 5,064 crore. After a loss of Rs 738 crore in FY23, it reported a profit after tax of Rs 197 crore in FY24.
“}]]
Read More Indian Startup News : Latest Posts