NE BUSINESS BUREAU
MUMBAI, MAY 21
Fino Payments Bank Limited (FPBL) on Wednesday announced that it turned profitable at the operating level for the financial year 2019-20. This feat is achieved within three years of the bank starting operations in July 2017, a bank release said.
This makes FPB the only standalone profitable payments bank that works solely on RBI’s financial inclusion objective by improving banking access predominantly in rural India.
Transactions have been the driving force behind Fino Payments Bank’s operating profit journey. In FY 19-20, FPB facilitated over Rs 1 lakh crore worth of transactions, doubling on the previous fiscal’s throughput. In terms of volume, transactions have almost doubled from 195 million in FY 18-19 to over 380 million in FY19-20.
Commenting on this, Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO, Fino Payments Bank said, “Not having an asset product makes payments bank model risk-free. We worked towards turning this perceived liability and a payments only model into an asset. Our strategic focus on having a lean variable cost model riding on digital platforms, increasing transactions, and high margin products enabled us to grow by over 86% in FY19-20. With a revenue of Rs 689 crores, we closed FY 19-20 with positive EBITDA and posted a profit in Q4.”
“It is a path-breaking achievement for us as we demonstrated the robustness of the bank’s business model amidst challenges and showcased the success of servicing low-income mass-market customers. We believe this will be a watershed moment for Fino and the first of many profitable quarters to come. We aim to take the momentum forward and continue growing at a good pace to create value to all our stakeholders,” added Gupta.
