Fino Payments Bank appoints Pratap Singh as MD & CEO
Singh brings nearly 29 years of experience in the banking sector, having held senior leadership positions at ICICI Bank in India and the UK, as well as SBI UK.
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Fino Payments Bank has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to appoint banking veteran Pratap Singh as its new managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) for a three-year term, beginning November 27, 2026.
The bank’s board will take the necessary steps to complete the appointment, which will also require shareholder approval. Fino said it would inform the stock exchanges once Singh formally assumes charge.
Singh brings nearly 29 years of experience in the banking sector, having held senior leadership positions at ICICI Bank in India and the UK, as well as SBI UK. At ICICI Bank UK, he served as head of retail and SME banking for the UK and Europe. His experience spans retail and SME banking, liabilities management, digital transformation and branch operations.
The appointment comes after a management shakeup at Fino. Former MD & CEO of the bank Rishi Gupta was arrested in February 2026 in connection with an alleged Rs 840 crore GST evasion case linked to online betting platforms.
Following the arrest, The Head and Tale had exclusively reported that the investigation into Fino was in connection business partners of the bank and not relating to GST compliance of the bank.
Subsequently, Gupta sought voluntary early retirement, effective May 21, 2026.
Since Gupta's departure, Fino's CFO Ketan Merchant had been serving as interim CEO, while Anup Aggarwal, head of finance, investor relations and analytics, took over as interim CFO.
The leadership change also comes as Fino works towards converting into a small finance bank (SFB). The RBI granted the bank in-principle approval for the transition in December 2025, subject to meeting the prescribed conditions, including a net-worth requirement of Rs 300 crore within an 18-month period. The bank has maintained that it remains on track to complete the transition within the stipulated timeframe.
In Q2 FY27, the bank reported a net loss of Rs 20.9 crore, compared with a profit of Rs 15.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Its total income also declined 16.6% YoY to Rs 333.6 crore, marking its second consecutive quarterly loss.
Its October 2026 operating performance was mixed. Transaction throughput fell 18% YoY to Rs 3,541 crore, while new deposit accounts declined 19% to 2.3 lakh.
Its average total deposits increased 9% to Rs 2,886 crore, and digitally active customers grew 12% to 65.1 lakh. CMS throughput rose 12% to Rs 7,514 crore, while loan referral disbursals jumped 316% to Rs 301 crore. The bank's total deposits also crossed the Rs 3,000 crore mark for the first time, reaching Rs 3,044 crore during the month.