Sahil Kini has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), according to sources speaking to ETBFSI. Kini, who co-founded Setu, a Bengaluru-based API FinTech company, will now lead RBIH. Setu was one of the fastest-growing players in the open API space before being acquired by Pine Labs in 2022. The company helped businesses integrate financial services smoothly through APIs across various sectors like bills, payments, savings, and credit.
As the new CEO, Kini’s responsibilities will include driving innovation within the finance sector, building strong leadership, and ensuring excellence across the organization. He will also focus on research and execution, consumer protection, and financial inclusion. In addition, he will work on engaging with the broader ecosystem, strengthening public advocacy, and forming strategic partnerships.
Kini is an alumnus of IIT Madras and played a key role in the IndiaStack team, focusing on product innovation and policy. His career has seen him work with companies like McKinsey, Aspada Investments, MagnetWorks, and Titan Industries.
Kini succeeds Rajesh Bansal, who completed his four-year term as CEO in April 2025. Bansal, the first CEO of RBIH, had previously worked at the Reserve Bank of India. During his leadership, RBIH launched its flagship product, Frictionless Credit, which was presented at the G20 summit.
The selection of Kini followed an extensive recruitment process that saw more than 400 applications. These included candidates from a range of sectors, including fintech founders, former bank CEOs, officers from RBI and UIDAI, and experts in finance and technology. Since April, Rakesh Ranjan, the current Chief Digital Officer at RBIH, has been serving as interim CEO.
RBIH, established in March 2022 and headquartered in Bengaluru, is a fully owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India. The hub was set up to promote innovation within the financial sector by connecting key stakeholders such as startups, fintech companies, regulators, and academic institutions.
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