Curve adds former Citibank and Standard Chartered exec to its board

All-your-cards-in-one fintech Curve has appointed Anju Patwardhan as its latest non-executive director.

Patwardhan spent nearly two decades at Citibank in several different roles, before moving to Standard Chartered where she held a number of global leadership roles, including chief innovation officer, chief operating officer and chief risk officer at the bank.

More recently, Patwardhan worked for the fintech VC arm of CreditEase, a wealth management and financial inclusion platform in China, helping it put down roots in the US and open a new office in San Francisco.

At her time at the helm of CreditEase’s $500m VC fund, Patwardhan led investments in more than 35 US and UK fintechs, including Monzo, Marqueta and RailsBank.

In her new role, Patwardhan will help Curve navigate regulation, global financial systems and credit risk, and help drive innovation.

Of her appointment, Anju Patwardhan said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work more closely with Shachar and the talented Curve team, as they continue their mission to simplify the finances of consumers in the UK, Europe and US.”

“I see huge potential in Curve’s model to bring innovation to these markets. With the mission of combining multiple cards in a single smart app and a single physical card, Curve brings ease, control and transparency to consumers.” 

As well as a host of other non-executive director roles, Patwardhan sits on the World Economic Forum’s steering committee for innovation in financial services and is a guest lecturer on fintech at both Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve, said: “Anju’s impressive knowledge of both traditional finance and digital innovation, and of how to unify them, couldn’t be more valuable at this exciting time of growth for Curve.” 

“As we work towards our launch in the US, and introduce our lending business via Curve Credit, the whole business will benefit from Anju’s exceptional experience. She’ll enable us to embed rigour in regulation and risk management across Curve.”

Just shy of a month ago, Curve closed a $95m Series C fundraise, which it plans to use to double down on US expansion, a project Patwardhan’s appointment will surely strengthen.