Fino Payments Bank will adopt a cautious approach to lending: MD & CEO

Fresh off its RBI nod, Fino Payments Bank plans a cautious but differentiated path as it transitions into a small finance bank-with digital scale, low-cost liabilities and secured lending at its core

Fino Payments Bank (Fino) last week received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition into a small finance bank (SFB). Rishi Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer, speaks to Ajinkya Kawale and Subrata Panda in a telephonic interview about the bank’s focus areas, its plans to build advances and a deposit franchise, and its ambition to get the universal-banking licence. Edited excerpts:

 

It took two years to get the RBI nod. Did you have any clarity from the central bank that the nod will come?

 

We had