BankBazaar expands employee stock pool, adds shares worth $15 million

BankBazaar.com has said it has expanded its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), adding shares worth USD 15 million (about Rs 109 crore) to the pool.

The company, which offers an online financial product marketplace, said it is poised to close this financial year with operational month-on-month profitability despite the onslaught of the pandemic.

"The revenue from credit cards grew by more than 20 per cent year-on-year and 72 per cent of the credit transactions is now contactless in less than a year since start of Digital KYC. The ESOP allotment is a way of acknowledging the contribution of the employees to the company's growth," a company statement said.

BankBazaar.com Chief HR Officer V Sriram said ESOPs are an incentive for everyone to be invested in long-term organisational growth.

"We have lived through a difficult and unpredictable year and come out very strongly at the end of it. Our team pulled off all stops to build and scale our capabilities and see our revenues bounce back to pre-COVID levels.

"By allotting ESOPs to employees at all levels, we are enabling every employee in the organisation to reap the benefits of the business they have helped create," he added.

The company usually offers ESOPs to its eligible employees equally vested for a five-year period.

However, this time, it has announced an accelerated vesting for the ESOPs.

In November last year, it had stated that FY21 will be a year of growth for the fintech company and had also announced wage hikes and promotions across all levels effective January 1, 2021.

BankBazaar, which has raised USD 116 million in funding, counts names like Experian, Eight Roads, Sequoia India, Walden International, WSV and Amazon among its investors.