Mswipe appoints Cashe’s Ketan Patel as CEO, to apply for NBFC licence

Mumbai: Merchant payments fintech Mswipe has appointed former Cashe CEO Ketan Patel as its new chief executive, with founder and former CEO Manish Patel elevated as the Managing Director. The leadership rejig at Mswipe is with an objective to pivot its business model from a merchant-focused payments firm to a “digital SME bank.”

The move comes at a time when competitor BharatPe has become the first fintech in India to own a small finance bank (SFB) license in partnership with Jaspal Bindra-led Centrum Group. Ketan Patel, who has also been with the Kotak Group, told ET that Falcon Edge-backed Mswipe will apply for a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) licence in FY22 and later attempt to convert into an SFB.