Coda Appoints Former Yum! Brands Executive Moonmoon Varma as Chief People Officer

Coda has appointed Moonmoon Varma as Chief People Officer, marking the final piece of a significant leadership restructuring for the Singapore-based payments firm. For fintech professionals, this move signals Coda’s transition into a mature global entity following its major acquisition of Recharge and the subsequent consolidation of its executive suite.

What was announced

Moonmoon Varma joins Coda as Chief People Officer to lead the company’s global People & Talent organisation. Her remit covers people strategy, organisational development, talent, and culture across Coda’s operations in Asia, Europe, the US, and the Middle East. Varma brings over two decades of HR leadership experience, having most recently served as Chief People Officer at Yum! Brands, with previous senior roles at Visa and Credit Suisse.

The appointment is part of a broader executive reshuffle in 2026. Earlier this year, Freddy Dijkman was named Chief Financial Officer. Dijkman joined Coda following the company’s 2025 acquisition of Recharge, where he also served as CFO. He now leads the global finance organisation, focusing on financial strategy and long-term growth.

Additionally, Abhi Sharma, who previously held the CFO position at Coda, transitioned into the role of Chief Operating Officer earlier this year. Sharma now oversees global operations, legal and compliance, payments, risk and fraud, and corporate development. This trio of leadership changes—Varma in talent, Dijkman in finance, and Sharma in operations—is designed to provide the operational discipline required as the company integrates its recent acquisitions and manages a workforce spanning multiple continents. The restructuring follows a period of rapid expansion for the firm as it seeks to solidify its position in the global digital content and payments market.

"Having spent the last two decades building people functions at global, high-growth businesses, I look for one thing when I make a move: a strong business with the ambition to match and a leadership team that treats Talent & Culture as a real driver of growth. Coda has all three. I am excited to build the People foundations that will carry that ambition forward and create lasting value as Coda enters its next phase of growth. This is the right moment to be joining Coda "

Moonmoon Varma, Chief People Officer at Coda.

The companies involved

Coda is a major player in the digital content and gaming payments space, providing solutions that allow publishers to monetise their products in markets where traditional credit card penetration is low. Headquartered in Singapore, the company has significantly expanded its footprint through strategic M&A activity. A pivotal moment in this expansion was the 2025 acquisition of Recharge, a prominent European payments platform.

Recharge, which operates via rechargepayments.com, established itself as a leader in the branded payments sector, offering a marketplace for prepaid cards and digital vouchers. Before its acquisition by Coda, Recharge was known for its strong presence in the European market and had previously formed significant industry partnerships, such as a 2022 collaboration with Mollie to provide product subscription solutions. By absorbing Recharge, Coda not only gained a robust foothold in Europe but also integrated key leadership talent, as evidenced by the appointment of former Recharge CFO Freddy Dijkman to Coda’s executive team. The combined entity now operates as a global powerhouse in the alternative payments and digital distribution landscape.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely tracked Coda’s aggressive expansion strategy over the past two years. In July 2025, we reported that Coda Accelerates Global Expansion with Acquisition of European Payments Platform Recharge, a move that fundamentally changed the company's scale. More recently, in July 2026, Coda’s focus on monetisation strategies was highlighted when Coda Unveils Strategic Playbook to Transform Linkouts into High-Impact Growth Channels. Furthermore, our coverage of the broader ecosystem includes Recharge’s earlier activities, such as when Mollie teams up with Recharge to offer best-in-class product subscription solution in 2022, showcasing the pedigree of the platform Coda eventually brought into its fold.

What this means

The appointment of a Chief People Officer with a background at Visa and Credit Suisse suggests Coda is moving past the "growth at all costs" phase and into a period of institutional maturity. In the fintech sector, the successful integration of a major acquisition like Recharge often hinges more on cultural alignment and operational discipline than on the underlying technology. By installing a dedicated CPO alongside a new CFO and COO, Coda is addressing the "people debt" that often accumulates during rapid international expansion. This moves the needle for the digital payments industry by creating a more formidable, structured competitor to traditional app store payment models.