Fino’s small fin bank plan: Secured loans

MUMBAI: Fino Payments Bank plans to hive off its business correspondent (BC) arm and expand secured lending through its merchant network once it transitions into a small finance bank, its MD & CEO Rishi Gupta said.Fino received in-principle approval from RBI in early Dec 2025 to convert into a small finance bank, a move that will allow it to undertake lending after a restructuring exercise.Unlike most small finance banks, that trace their roots to microfinance, Fino’s model is digital-first and transaction-led, Gupta said. “Scale is the initial advantage. Over 20 lakh merchants and 1.6 crore customers form a ready base, with 60 lakh customers active on UPI, allowing deposits and loans to be layered onto existing payment relationships,” he said. Deposits exceed Rs 3,000 crore, raised at under 2% cost, while the bank expects to mobilise Rs 600–800 crore annually to support a stable CASA base and cheaper funding.