Fino Payments Bank on track to turn Small Finance Bank: MD

Fino Payments Bank which recently received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to become a Small Finance Bank (SFB) is planning to get into the new format in about 12 months. 

“While there is an 18-month period which is given by the regulator, our endeavor will be to do as much fast as we can, maybe within 12 months or so. There is lot of excitement within our merchant network as well as our employees because we are upgrading from a Payments Bank to a SFB,” said Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO, Fino Payments Bank in an interview. 

Stating that the bank already has a robust liability franchise he said from migration point of view, the bank had started to look at hiring people and has selected some technology solutions. 

“We are also looking at multiple AI tools which will help us engage better with the customers, build efficiencies,” he said.

The bank is planning to invest about ₹100 crore- to ₹150 crore over the next 3 to 4 years to build the tech stack that would be required for lending operations.

It is also planning to open about 100-120 branches over 3-4 years to expand its network. 

From a lending point of view the bank would concentrate on select regions and have a very cluster approach. It will largely focus on the north and western part of the country and then move from west to south. Then cover the rest of the country. 

“It will be very phased growth, a very cautious approach. We will be building a secure lending portfolio like affordable housing, gold loan, some related products. We are not looking at adding microfinance as one of our lending book. But we will be looking at the lower to middle segment,” he said.

“Our focus is to build a good differentiated bank. We are very grateful to the regulator for the approval because we will be the first payment bank to get converted into a SFB. And that gives us an opportunity to not only upgrade our business model but also do more with our customers,” he said.

He said the bank has a medium term plan as per which it would have a lending book of about ₹8,000 crore to ₹10,000 crore in 3 to 4 years from the time of becoming operational as a SFB.