Fino Payments Bank Gets New MD & CEO

Over six months after Rishi Gupta stepped down from his role as CEO of Fino Payments Bank, the fintech company is now set to get a new managing director (MD) and CEO. Today, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of ICICI Bank veteran Pratap Singh as its new MD and CEO for 3 years.

Singh is set to take charge by November 27.

“The board of directors of the bank shall take necessary steps for his appointment, which will be subject to approval of shareholders of the bank. The bank will be intimate to the stock exchanges when Pratap Singh formally takes charge as the MD & CEO of the bank,” Fino said.

The new CEO brings over 29 years of experience across the banking sector in India and the UK. He has held leadership positions at ICICI Bank India, ICICI Bank UK and SBI UK. 

At ICICI Bank UK, he served as head of retail and SME banking for the UK and Europe, and has expertise spanning retail and SME banking, liabilities, digital transformation and branch-led profitability. 

The leadership change follows a turbulent year for Fino. Gupta, the company’s former CEO was arrested in February 2026 in connection with an investigation into alleged GST evasion of over ₹840 Cr linked to online betting platforms. Subsequently, Gupta requested for a voluntary early retirement, beginning May 21.

Since then, the bank’s CFO, Ketan Merchant, took charge as interim CEO in May and has held the position since. Fino’s head of finance, investor relations and analytics Anup Aggarwal stepped up to fill in the interim CFO role.

The leadership transition also comes at a time when Fino is bidding to convert to a small finance bank (SFB). Since receiving an ‘in-principle’ from the RBI to convert to an SFB back in December 2025.

However, it must be noted that the RBI has given an 18-month window to complete the transition and meet the net-worth requirement of ₹300 Cr. Despite recent regulatory scrutiny and an investigation involving its CEO, the bank stated it remains on track to finish the process within the stipulated timeline.

Amid all this, Fino’s financial and stock performance has taken a considerable hit. 

On the financial front, Fino reported a net loss of ₹20.9 Cr in Q2 FY27, against a net profit of ₹15.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter, marking its second consecutive quarterly loss. At the same time, its total income declined 16.6% YoY to ₹333.6 Cr. 

Operationally, Fino reported mixed business performance for the month of October 2026. The company’s transaction throughput declined 18% YoY to ₹3,541 Cr, while the number of deposit accounts opened fell 19% to 2.3 Lakh. 

Average total deposits rose 9% to ₹2,886 Cr, while digitally active customers increased 12% to 65.1 Lakh. CMS throughput grew 12% to ₹7,514 Cr. Loan referral disbursals surged 316% to ₹301 Cr. However, the bank’s total deposits crossed ₹3,000 Cr for the first time, peaking at ₹3,044 Cr during the month.

The company’s shares have plunged close to 50% on a year to date (YTD) basis. Fino’s shares closed today’s trading session 2% higher at 129.95 apiece on the BSE.

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