Headline

Finance & Strategy @ Stripe | Payments & Fintech Finance Leader | Acquiring/Issuing Economics, Scheme & Interchange Optimization

About

Payments-focused finance leader with 12+ years spanning hyper-growth fintech (Stripe) and tier-1 global financial research firms (Acuity Knowledge Partners, Moody's Analytics). I specialize in acquiring & issuing economics, card network scheme optimization, and bank partner governance — most recently architecting a contract-to-invoice governance model at Stripe that identified significant, multi-year overbilling and scaled across a broad partner bank network, and a volume-leverage analysis that directly informed Stripe's Visa contract renegotiation. Beyond the numbers, I build the tools that make finance faster — including Stripe's first AI Agent in Finance & Strategy and a Claude-based reporting automation skill that cut weekly WBR/MBR prep time by over 80%.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude

gemini

notebooklm

ChatGPT

Microsoft Copilot

OpenRouter

Work experience

Finance & Strategy at Stripe, Jul 2025 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos, Bengaluru, - Payments Economics Ownership: Owned end-to-end Payins and Terminal Payins volume reporting and granular deep-dives, driving core insights for Weekly and Monthly Business Reviews (WBR/MBR). - Bank Partner Fee Governance (Awarded): Architected a contract-to-invoice governance model across acquiring and issuing bank partners, identifying substantial overbilling/variance over an 8-month period (2024-2025); piloted on issuing banks and scaled significantly across the acquiring bank network — recognized with internal Bank Partner Fee Governance & Cost Control award. - Scheme & Network Optimization: Evaluated card network agreements, scheme fee structures, and interchange incentives to optimize routing economics, bank partnership deals, and LPM deal pricing margins. - Network Renewal Leverage Analysis: Built a volume-growth leverage analysis across Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, and Capital One ahead of 3-year contract renewals; quantified Stripe's meaningful contribution to Visa's incremental volume growth in FY25 — shared with senior leadership and used directly in Visa contract negotiations. - Payins Deep-Dive Volume Analytics: Owned weekly/monthly Payins analytics across top 100 tracked users, including custom Data Science-backed pacing models for the 10-12 largest accounts (e.g., Amazon, Shopify); analyzed volume across segment, integration type, and region, separating front-book from back-book cohorts and reconciling against sales GTM forecasts to inform Net Revenue tracking for senior Payments leadership. - Agentic AI & Automation (Awarded): Built and trained Stripe's first AI Agent in Finance & Strategy — automating vendor PO approval checks and a Claude-based skill auto-generating WBR/MBR commentary — cutting manual review time significantly while preserving human-in-the-loop control; recognized with internal AI Agent Innovation & Cost Control award.

Delivery Manager at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Feb 2020 - Jul 2025 · 5 yrs 6 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, • Currently covering the top 15 banks of India by Market cap. • Provide investors with detailed ratings based on overall earnings performance. • Presented oral and written reports on general economic trends, individual corporations and entire industries. • Conducted in-depth analysis for upcoming offerings (IPO). • Consolidated financial data and materials for key leadership meetings. • Developed and deepened client relationships to cement profitable partnerships. • Solved complex problems for senior leadership to execute on-time and under-budget projects. • Trained subordinates on quality control within critical databases.

Delivery Manager at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Feb 2020 - Jul 2025 · 5 yrs 6 mos, Managed equity research and valuation deliverables covering the top 15 Indian banks by market capitalization, providing global investors with comprehensive earnings analyses and credit/equity rating frameworks. Consolidated multi-entity financial data and executive presentation decks for board meetings and key client partnerships. Solved complex operational and financial challenges for senior stakeholders, executing strategic projects consistently on-time and under budget. Mentored and led team members, implementing automated quality control procedures across critical financial databases. Led research coverage for ASEAN-listed equities, applying quantitative screening tools for bottom-up stock selection. Built DCF, multi-stage, and trading multiple valuation models based on historical financial statements, operational drivers, and sector forecasts. Process Automation: Spearheaded operational improvement initiatives that boosted team efficiency by 50% through alternative database creation and process optimization.

Delivery Lead at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Jul 2016 - Feb 2020 · 3 yrs 8 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, • Coverage included stocks relating to ASEAN listed Casino companies. • Utilized screening tool to identify bottom-up stock idea identification. • Tracked prices, yields and other trends to correctly interpret impacts on investment programs. • Valued and priced securities and companies based on historical, current and forecasted information • Evaluated investment potential of companies with thorough assessments of historical data, operational activities and future objectives. • Helped stakeholders make good choices by presenting information on general trends and entire industries. • Improved efficiency by 50% through alternative methods and creating new databases • Improved emergency resolution processes to save time. • Presented results of financial analyses to clients verbally and in written form.

Associate Vice President at Moody's Analytics Knowledge Services, May 2014 - Feb 2017 · 2 yrs 10 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, • Created 15-16 financial models annually for buy and sell recommendations across multiple sectors. Few to mention, Retail, Pharma and Auto Industry for Indian listed companies. • Created and maintained precise and accurate models, charts and reports. • Gathered, arranged and corrected research data to create representative graphs and charts highlighting results for presentations. • Kept pace with economic, industrial and corporate developments impacting clients' financial wellbeing. • Consolidated financial data and materials for key leadership meetings. • Solved financial problems with use of diverse analytical and modeling techniques. • Generated ideas within various sectors.

Education

Master of Business Administration, Finance, General, Christ University, Bangalore

Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance, General, The Bhawanipur Education Society College