Interview with Fino Payments Bank Ltd

Our key growth trigger are our product evolution and market pioneering ability asserts Ketan Merchant, CFO, Fino Payments Bank Ltd.

What are the emerging trends you are witnessing among consumers in the post-pandemic world?

There has been a noticeable behavioural shift towards doorstep and neighbourhood banking, away from the conventional branches. Customers are increasingly gaining trust and confidence in banking through digitally-enabled neighbourhood merchants. The service quality, quick transactions and a tangible grievance resolution mechanism is helping build the trust of customers in the merchant ecosystem. This is a big validation of Fino’s value proposition to the customers.

One, they save time, money and energy by not travelling to the nearest branch and queuing up for services and two, with one successful transaction, they gain the trust to do more. With more neighbourhood points, a customer has the comfort to withdraw cash at any time. Thus, they will not need to hoard cash for contingencies and instead park that money in their bank account. With more money in digital form, they will have the liberty to either spend more digitally or invest in financial instruments.

What are your key growth triggers? 

While we like to believe that our business has been Covid agnostic, the pandemic has given tailwinds structurally for long term growth. Consumer behaviour underwent a tectonic shift during the pandemic as doorstep banking gained momentum. This spiked growth in our off-us businesses like domestic remittance, micro-ATM and AEPS. We saw another opportunity as a result of growth in the off-us business. Our merchant points started generating higher footfalls on account of these off-us products. We weren’t even spending as much on marketing to drive the footfalls.  

When a customer ends up opening an account with Fino Payments Bank, we see it as an off-us customer getting converted to on-us. This generates an enhanced relationship with the customer and our ability to cross-sell other financial products to them grows. At the same time, the customer also moves up the ladder in the lifetime value.

If micro-ATM and AEPS were our key growth triggers in FY20 and FY21, CASA and CMS (Cash Management System) products will lead our growth tables in FY22 and FY23. Hence, if I have to answer your question in one sentence, I would say our key growth trigger are our product evolution and market pioneering ability.

At the moment, what are your top 3 strategic priorities?

Our top 3 strategic priorities would be:

1.Widening our merchant ecosystem to every nook and corner of India.

2.Owning more customers through our CASA product.

3.Pushing our digital stack to customers.