Cashfree Payments Appoints Ex-Visa Exec Sameer Gandhi As CFO
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Fintech startup Cashfree Payments has roped in ex-Visa finance head Sameer Gandhi as its new chief financial officer. In a statement, the startup said that Gandhi would anchor its financial strategy, enhance the efficiency of its financial operations and revenue planning. It is also eyeing to accelerate its growth and become profitable in the coming quarters.
Gandhi helmed the finance department at Visa since 2017. The chartered accountant has held various roles in companies like Vodafone, Citigroup and CRISIL, during a career that spans over 25 years.
“Being the first payments platform in India to hold all three RBI payments licenses gives a significant edge to Cashfree Payments over other players. I look forward to working as a strategic business partner – balancing cost discipline with funding innovation, and contributing to shared vision and goals by ensuring robust financial foundation and governance across all functions,” Gandhi said.
Meanwhile, Cashfree’s current CFO Vikas Guru is expected to support Gandhi through a transition period. His last working day at Cashfree is yet to be determined.
The CFO appointment comes at a time when Cashfree is looking to improve its financial performance. In the fiscal year FY25, the KRAFTON-backed startup’s net loss rose 14% to ₹154.1 Cr from ₹135 Cr in the previous fiscal. Its top line remained flat at around ₹640 Cr.
At the operating level, EBITDA loss also increased to ₹131 Cr from ₹109.5 Cr in FY24, with margins slipping further to -20% from -17%.
Cashfree is yet to disclose its financial position for the fiscal year FY26.
Notably, Cashfree has recently secured all three RBI licences, payment aggregator (PA), cross-border (PA-CB) and prepaid payment instrument (PPI). It claims this has helped drive strong growth, especially in its cross-border payments business, which grew 250% YoY.
The fintech startup claims to be processing over $80 Bn in annual transactions and serves more than 1 Mn businesses.
Founded in 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, Cashfree offers payment gateway, payouts and banking API solutions. It serves clients like Zomato, CRED and Delhivery.
The startup has raised over $90 Mn from investors like KRAFTON, Y Combinator, Smilegate Investment, Musha Ventures, among others.
Important to highlight that the startup was recently penalised by the RBI for flouting payment aggregator norms.
The central bank found that the startup made certain non-permissible debits from its escrow account during the inspection period between April 2024 and June 2025.
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