Revolut expands its senior team in India, adds Saleem Arshad as CTO
Fast-growing fintech Revolut has appointed Saleem Arshad as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), according to information made public on his Linkedin profile.
A former founding member of challenger bank W1TTY, Arshad will be responsible for leading the development and delivery of Revolut’s products and services. Previously, he held a variety of senior positions including roles in product management and software with a focus on payment systems.
Saleem brings with him financial industry experience, including working at HSBC for more than six years, most recently as domain architect – SME digital banking. His career also encompasses various roles at Barclays, BP, LexisNexis, Wipro Technologies and Accenture, among others.
The British-born startup plans to heavily invest in India over the next five years as it is confident the move would yield more business. Revolut has committed to create 300 new jobs across multiple functions including HR, finance, growth, marketing, recruitment, compliance, risk and technology.
Onboarding new talents comes shortly after Revolut acquired India-based money transfer company Arvog Forex as the British fintech giant plans to launch its cross-border products for local users in second half of 2022. Financial terms of the deal were not shared.
The deal, which went through Revolut’s Indian registered entity, is said to reinforce its foundation in India and build on the strengths of its core business around the world. London-based neobank is also open to peruse further acquisitions in the Indian fintech segment as it eyes for obtaining a digital banking license.
Revolut plans to enter other Asian countries
The Indian subsidiary, which received $45.5 million from its parent entity, will also serve as an operations hub for Revolut’s global business. After India, the fintech firm plans to enter other Asian markets like Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea and China.
Revolut, which offers banking and trading services through an app, raised $800 million last year in a funding round that valued the firm at $33 billion. This valuation was a sixfold increase compared to nearly $5.5 billion the UK firm was worth in 2020.
Revolut has been among a number of app-only fintech companies that are looking to branch into banking as they diversify their revenue stream and bring new services to their existing customers.
The new business roll-out comes as the market for Fintech firms offering alternatives to traditional banks has become fiercely competitive. Revolut is already going up against other established rivals, such as Stripe, which recently expanded its portfolio of partner banks that have signed on to offer co-branded banking services.
