Arihant Jain

CEO

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India11 yrs 11 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchAI Enabled

Key Highlights

Led Paytm's Merchant Lending with full P&L ownership.
Expert in fintech, digital lending, and risk analytics.
Consistently drove revenue and improved product stickiness.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech expert with a strong focus on digital lending and credit strategy.

Contact

arihant.jec2013@gmail.com LinkedIn

Skills

Core Skills

Merchant LendingP&l OwnershipDigital AcquisitionDigital LendingProduct Strategy

Other Skills

AcquisitionAlgorithmsAnalysisAnalyticsApache KafkaApache SparkBig DataBig Data AnalyticsBusiness AnalysisBusiness Growth StrategiesBusiness IntelligenceBusiness ManagementBusiness OperationsBusiness PlanningBusiness Process Improvement

About

I lead Paytm’s Merchant Lending business with full P&L ownership, focusing on digital lending, merchant credit, product strategy, and risk optimisation. My work spans revenue growth, cost efficiency, and scaling credit products across India’s SME and merchant ecosystem. With deep expertise in fintech, digital lending, risk analytics, product-led growth, credit underwriting, customer acquisition, and lifecycle management, I drive cross-functional execution across business, product, and risk teams. I specialise in building and optimising credit funnels, improving portfolio quality, and enhancing customer experience through data-backed decision making. Before Paytm, I worked across IIFL Finance and ZestMoney, strengthening my understanding of unsecured credit, merchant financing, digital acquisition, cross-sell, and collections strategy. I have consistently driven revenue, improved product stickiness, and built scalable credit engines using analytics-focused execution. Areas of Strength: Fintech | Digital Lending | Merchant Lending | SME Credit | Product Strategy | Risk | P&L Ownership | Growth Strategy | Portfolio Management | Underwriting | Data Analytics | GTM Execution | Customer Lifecycle | Credit Ops | Collections | Monetisation | Product-Led Growth 📩 Contact Email: arihant.jec2013@gmail.com Mobile Number/ WhatsApp: +91-8586970038

Experience

11 yrs 11 mos

Total Experience

1 yr 11 mos

Average Tenure

2 yrs 8 mos

Current Experience

Paytm

2 roles

Vice President - Merchant Lending Business

Promoted

Dec 2024 – Present · 1 yr 6 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · Hybrid

Owned end-to-end P&L for Merchant Lending Repeat Business, driving revenue growth while improving unit economics and cost efficiency.
Led metric-driven execution across Business (GMV, revenue, cross-sell), Product (UI/UX, journey drops, complaints), and Risk (entry rate, DPD, credit losses) to build a predictable, scalable credit engine.
Designed and executed digital acquisition strategy across lead generation, funnel optimisation, conversion experiments, and performance management.
Built data-led cross-sell and retention playbooks to increase product penetration, revenue per merchant, and overall stickiness.
Oversaw international lending expansion initiatives, contributing to market assessment, strategy development, and early execution for scaling Paytm’s credit footprint beyond India.
Partnered across product, tech, and risk teams to ship improvements at speed and enhance customer experience and portfolio quality.

Business ManagementStrategic PartnershipsP&L ManagementSales ManagementLeadershipRevenue & Profit Growth+5

Assistant Vice President - Merchant Lending

Sep 2023 – Nov 2024 · 1 yr 2 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · Hybrid

Accountable for full P&L ownership of the Merchant Lending Repeat Business, ensuring revenue expansion while tightly controlling cost levers and overall economics.
Drive a performance-first culture by continuously monitoring and improving core Business (GMV, revenue, cross-sell), Product (UX, journey drops, issue rates), and Risk (entry rate, DPD, credit losses) metrics.
Shape and steer digital acquisition efforts, from lead generation to conversion optimisation, ensuring strong funnel hygiene and consistent growth across all digital touchpoints.
Develop structured cross-sell motions for existing merchants to lift engagement, increase activation depth, and enhance long-term stickiness of lending products.
Lead the business as a product + strategy owner, using data, fast iteration, and customer insights to strengthen portfolio outcomes and scale the credit engine sustainably.

Product ManagementBusiness StrategyTeam ManagementP&L ManagementSalesBusiness Operations+3

Iifl finance

Digital Lending Business(Merchant Loan/SME Loan/Consumer Loan/Supply Chain Finance)

May 2021 – Aug 2023 · 2 yrs 3 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Built and scaled digital lending flows across acquisition, underwriting and decisioning, operating with a product-first, execution-heavy approach.
Crafted credit policies and risk frameworks that balanced aggressive growth with strong portfolio quality and predictable unit economics.
Owned funnel performance end-to-end, reducing drop-offs, improving conversion, and tightening customer suitability using data-led experimentation.
Collaborated with product, data science and risk teams to develop sharper underwriting models and faster, more efficient digital journeys.
Continuously improved the lending engine through rapid iteration, analytics-driven insights, and a strong focus on profitability and portfolio health.

Product ManagementProduct DevelopmentBusiness PlanningCross-functional Team LeadershipBusiness OperationsStakeholder Management+4

Zestmoney

Lead - Digital Lending (Consumer Lending - Credit Line/BNPL/Personal Loan)

Feb 2020 – May 2021 · 1 yr 3 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Led end-to-end strategy for the Credit Line & BNPL business, owning funnel optimisation, customer targeting, and portfolio growth.
Designed CLTV-driven playbooks to identify high-value users, improve repeat behaviour, and maximise long-term revenue.
Owned funnel performance across acquisition, activation, utilisation, and repayment—running rapid experiments to improve conversion and reduce friction.
Collaborated with Product, Analytics, and Data Science to build smarter decisioning, sharper customer journeys, and data-backed risk controls.
Scaled digital credit experiences by shipping product improvements fast, leveraging insights, and focusing on sustainable growth and portfolio health

Cross-functional Team LeadershipProduct DevelopmentDigital Lending

Vodafone idea limited

2 roles

General Manager

Jun 2019 – Sep 2019 · 3 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Cross-functional Team LeadershipProduct Development

Manager

Feb 2018 – Jun 2019 · 1 yr 4 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Led Postpaid, International Roaming, and Digital Strategy, driving revenue growth, reducing churn, and improving customer lifecycle performance.
Designed and executed churn-reduction programs for postpaid customers, using segmentation, targeting, and behavioural insights to improve retention.
Built data-science–driven strategies to increase International Roaming revenue, leveraging usage patterns, pricing optimisation, and targeted offers.
Worked closely on telco data monetisation, contributing to credit score models and enriching them with insights from postpaid and prepaid behavioural data.
Led end-to-end delivery of high-impact growth and revenue initiatives, coordinating across product, analytics, marketing, and network teams to ensure fast execution and measurable outcomes.

Cross-functional Team LeadershipProduct Development

Rbl bank

Manager

Oct 2016 – Feb 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos · Gurgaon, India

Drove activation and engagement for the Credit Card business, improving early usage, repeat behaviour, and overall lifecycle value.
Led onboarding and cross-sell strategy, ensuring stronger activation rates, deeper product adoption, and higher revenue per customer.
Developed and optimised NTC (New-to-Credit) strategy, improving approval quality, conversion, and risk-adjusted portfolio performance.
Played a key role in scaling the Bajaj Finserv “SuperCard” partnership, supporting growth initiatives, product enhancements, and portfolio expansion.
Managed multiple fintech partnerships across personal loans and SME loans, working closely with product, risk, and business teams to drive growth.
Oversaw collections strategy for the credit card portfolio, optimising recovery rates, reducing delinquencies, and improving overall portfolio health.

Product Development