Abhishek Securities

  Fino Payments Bank has reported a profit after tax of Rs 4.5 crore in the second quarter of FY 2021, up 136 percent from Rs 1.9 crore in the previous quarter, the Mumbai-based bank said on November 25. At an operational level, the bank had reported profitability in the last financial year. It reported a total transaction settlement of Rs 33,000 crore in the September quarter, up 43 percent from year-ago period. Overall, the bank had an operating profit of Rs 13 crore. The performance came on the back of a network of 5.5 lakh businesses that offer banking services to consumers across the nation. These include Fino’s own and its partner’s physical network. “The biggest positive for us is the change in customer’s banking behaviour resulting in increased transactions. We will continue to explore growth opportunities in payment services as well as the trillion-dollar digital payments space and create value for all our stakeholders,” said Rishi Gupta, chief executive officer, Fino Paym...

  Fino Payments Bank, which began operations three years ago, is targeting a network of 10 lakh customer touchpoints by March 2023 and aims to convert itself to a small finance bank once it is eligible after completing five years, Rishi Gupta, its MD and CEO, told THE WEEK in an interaction. Fino Payments Bank, which counts private equity firm Blackstone, ICICI and oil marketer Bharat Petroleum among its investors, had commenced operations from July 2017. A payments bank can offer a plethora of products like payments and remittance services, small savings accounts, but not loans or credit cards, Fino Payments Bank has tied up with ICICI Bank to offer gold loans and it currently does around Rs 150 crore worth gold loans. It also has tie-ups with a few insurance companies to offer their insurance products to customers through its bank.  It is also exploring tie-ups with other banks and non-banking financial services companies to offer other merchants and consumer lending product...

  When the big boys of banking were hobbled by a lending moratorium, ICICI Group- and Blackstone-backed  Fino Payments Bank  recorded its first run of profits in consecutive quarters, riding the surge in  digital transactions  during the lockdown. Fino expects to complete Rs 60,000 crore worth of transactions in the first half of FY21, up 36% from Rs 44 000 crore in the same period last fiscal. Transaction volumes have surpassed pre-Covid levels, largely due to cash withdrawals in rural areas. As a result, the company posted a net profit for the second consecutive quarter in the three months to June of Rs 1.9 crore from a net loss of Rs 10.9 crore a year ago. March 2020 was the first time it posted a net profit of Rs 1.3 crore. "We have been beneficiaries of a surge in transactions during and post lockdown as banking services have been more localised and people in rural areas have accessed our network to access government cash transfers," said CEO Rishi Gupta. I...

The road to recovery for India's economy may just be smoother. Rural financing (for vehicles and farm equipment), one of the most critical indicators, has given economy watchers something to smile about. Small finance banks like Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, Suryoday Small Finance Bank and Fino Payment Bank. Leading finance companies such as Cholamandalam, Mahindra Finance, HDFC, L&T and Manappuram are seeing a 40 -60% higher collections and disbursements from their rural branches. At Kerala-based Manappuram Finance, one of the largest non-banking finance companies, with nearly 4,200 branches in 25 states, its chief executive VP Nandakumar said, "In June, disbursements went up 5060% from May, reaching 80-85% of pre-Covid levels due to demand for two-wheeler, tractors and entry-level cars. Collections have improved and 25% of those availing moratorium have started paying instalments in June." He expects this momentum to stay next quarter Finance companies say they ...