ESOP buyback marks decade milestone as Cashfree Payments rewards over 400 employees

The initiative includes 175 former team members and coincides with Cashfree Payments moving into an 80,000 square foot headquarters in Ecoworld Bangalore as it enters its next growth phase

Bangalore, January 20, 2026: Cashfree Payments announced an ESOP buyback plan for its employees as the company completes ten years in India’s digital payments ecosystem. The buyback covers over 400 employees across current and former team members, including 175 former employees.
The company said the move reflects its approach to building long term value and creating wealth for people who have contributed to its growth over the years.

Akash Sinha, CEO and Co founder, Cashfree Payments, said, “Turning ten is not just a milestone, it is a powerful reminder of how far we have come and how much more we are building toward.” He added, “This buyback is about recognising real contribution and sharing the outcomes of growth.”
Cashfree Payments said it has been scaling its cross border payments stack and recorded 250% GMV growth over the last year. The company stated that cross border currently contributes 10% of its revenue and it is aiming to take this to nearly 25% by 2030.

Cashfree Payments described itself as the first fintech to have received the PA CB License from the RBI for exports and imports flows. The company also said the ESOP buyback comes at a time when it has moved into a new 80,000 square foot headquarters at Ecoworld, Bangalore, which it linked to its next phase of growth with a focus on employee well being, collaboration, and AI driven innovation.
The company said it powers over $80 billion in annual payment volumes and serves more than one million businesses, including Zepto, RedBus, Swiggy, Nykaa, and Big Basket.

Cashfree Payments said it offers products that support payment collection across 100 plus payment methods, payouts, cross border payments, and checkout features. It also highlighted SecureID, its identity verification stack, which includes APIs and KYC components designed to support compliant onboarding and fraud detection. The company said it is authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator for domestic and cross border payments and is also authorised to issue prepaid instruments. It said it is backed by Y Combinator, Apis Partners, State Bank of India, KRAFTON, and was incubated by PayPal.

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