BigPay announces leadership transition as Capital A commits to sustain growth in fintech business

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 April 2023 - BigPay, a Capital A venture company and a leading fintech in Southeast Asia, has announced the appointment of Zubin Rada Krishnan as acting Group CEO. 

Zubin was the Malaysia country head for BigPay the past year, and succeeds Salim Dhanani who stepped down in February to pursue a new opportunity outside of BigPay. 

Salim Dhanani said, “It has been an immensely humbling experience serving as the CEO of BigPay, securing capital to scale, developing a suite of financial services for our customers and diversifying revenue streams since inception. I trust that the amazing team I’ve had the privilege to work with will ensure that we have a sustainable business model scaling within the AirAsia and Capital A ecosystem as BigPay embarks on the next chapter with the new leadership.”

Colin Currie, President, CEO, airasia Digital said, “The management would like to thank Salim for his leadership as CEO since December 2020, and for being a part of BigPay’s journey to challenge conventional banking in Asean. We are excited to welcome Zubin Rada Krishnan as acting Group CEO of BigPay, who has been the country head for Malaysia for nearly a year. Zubin takes the helm of this great company at a time of strong, sustained performance and we are confident that he will continue to grow BigPay's mission of giving Southeast Asians the financial services they need to level up their lives, one transaction at a time. We are excited for BigPay’s next step as we seek to tighten our links with AirAsia guests to provide a seamless travel payment experience within the Capital A ecosystem.”

Acting Group CEO of BigPay Zubin Rada Krishnan said, “I am excited to be given this opportunity to drive BigPay’s mission. I will leverage my nearly 20 years of experience across financial services and capital markets to better provide our customers with the accessible and supportive products they need to live better lives. With an increased focus on our customers and deeper collaboration with airasia Superapp, I am confident in achieving greater growth for BigPay, which saw 56% YoY growth in revenue and a 43% improvement in gross profit margins. We have a stellar, talented team behind the business, who are instrumental in deepening and expanding our footprint in Malaysia and across Asean, with a planned launch in Thailand later this year, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines.”

Before joining BigPay, Zubin was a Partner with the Boston Consulting Group for over six years, where he focused on financial services, including: the design of digital banks in Singapore & Malaysia; large-scale bank operating model transformations; and the build & launch of innovative digital products. He was also a co-founder of Tuas Capital Partners, a private equity fund. Prior, he played a strategy role at Hong Leong Bank where he helped set up a new subsidiary in Vietnam, and supported Malaysia’s last major retail banking merger. He began his career in KPMG Business Advisory, supporting financial institutions across financial risk and strategy. Zubin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

BigPay currently has 1.3M transacting and carded users which represents nearly 50% growth YoY. In 2022, BigPay launched various regulated financial products and services in Malaysia, such as BigPay Personal Loans, DuitNow QR, and DuitNow transfer. Most recently, BigPay has also hit RM1 billion in Gross Transaction Value (GTV) on its international remittance feature. 

About BigPay

BigPay is a Southeast Asian fintech company founded in 2017. The company is committed to providing the financial services that  Southeast Asians need to live better, by providing accessible, transparent, simple and secure digital financial services. From payments to international transfers, credit, micro-insurance, personal loans, and smart budgeting, the goal is to level-up Southeast Asian lives–one transaction at a time.

About Capital A

Capital A is an investment holding company with a portfolio of synergistic travel and lifestyle businesses that leverage data and technology to deliver the best value at the lowest cost. It is supported by vast, high quality data and one of Asia's leading brands that remains committed to serving the underserved. As the new corporate identity of the former AirAsia Group Berhad, Capital A signifies its transformation from an airline to a digital travel and lifestyle brand, comprised of main business verticals– Aviation (Airlines), Aviation services (ADE, Santan, GTR), airasia Superapp (airasia food, airasia ride among others), and Ventures (AirAsia Academy, RedBeat Capital among others), as well as logistics venture Teleport and fintech portfolio company, BigPay.

For more information, please contact press@bigpayme.com, or communications@airasia.com