Cashfree Payments, a prominent payment and API banking company has appointed Abhaya Hota, former Managing Director and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), as an independent director. Hota, a seasoned expert in the Indian banking and payments sector, has dedicated nearly three decades to the Reserve Bank of India. 

During his tenure at NPCI, he played a pivotal role in the development and implementation of key payment systems and policies, including the introduction of MICR technology for cheque clearing, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and RuPay credit cards, India's proprietary card scheme.

In addition to his new role at Cashfree Payments, Hota serves as an independent director at the Federal Bank, NSE Clearing, Protean e-Gov Technologies, and the RBI Innovation Hub. Commenting on his new position, Hota expressed enthusiasm about joining Cashfree Payments and supporting its mission to enhance India's digital payments ecosystem.

Cashfree Payments, licensed by the RBI as a payment aggregator, processes transactions exceeding $80 billion annually and is relied upon by over 600,000 businesses for digital payment solutions. Since obtaining the payment aggregator license in December 2023, the company has experienced significant growth, with transaction volumes increasing by nearly 30 percent. 

CEO and co-founder Akash Sinha highlighted this growth, noting that merchant leads have nearly doubled from December to March, with current leads around 35,000–36,000 per month and expectations to reach 50,000 by June. The company has also introduced innovative products such as FlowWise, KYC Link, and Risk Shield, further strengthening its market position. Additionally, Cashfree Payments is expanding internationally, particularly in the UAE, through its acquired partner, Telr.