Fino Payments Bank to raise up to Rs 200 cr via equity in FY18

Firm to utilise funds to further its expansion plans

Fino Payments Bank will raise up to Rs 200 crore in capital from a fresh set of investors in this financial year to fund its network expansion plans.

Rishi Gupta, its managing director and chief executive, said the bank is looking to bag investments within the Rs 150-200 crore range to back its expansion plans.

In the medium term, that is within two to three years, the bank would take steps in favour of listing itself on the exchanges to meet the regulatory conditions set out in the banking license. The exact timing for listing is linked to the bank achieving a break even point, he said.

Payments bank, backed by private lender ICICI Bank and oil marketing major BPCL, on Monday commenced operations with 410 branches and 25,000 touch points across 14 states in the country.

Airtel Payments Bank, Paytm Payments Bank and Postal Bank have already become operational.

In January, Fino completed its Rs 400-crore fund raising exercise. In the process, the company has also complied with RBI's guidelines on having majority domestic shareholding.

Earlier in July 2016, the company struck a strategic partnership with the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The state-owned oil marketing company had acquired a 21 per cent stake in Fino for Rs 251 crore. Fino followed it up by successfully raising the remaining Rs 149 crore from a group of strategic investors.

Referring to the firm's expansion plans, Gupta said it plans to scale up its customer base to reach the 50-million mark in a period of five years. This would be achieved by building a network of 1,000-plus branches and 1 lakh customer touch points. The bank also aims to garner a deposit base of Rs 10,000 crore in five years.

Fino has maintained its policy of paying 4 per cent interest on money kept in savings account and would not be a part of the race to attract resources by offering a higher rate of interest.

Interest rates are expected to move down in the system and emphasis will be on service quality and convenience to build liabilities (deposits), Gupta added.