The Reserve Bank of India has given in-principle approval to the appointment of Pratap Singh as managing director and chief executive of Fino Payments Bank for a three-year term, according to a stock exchange filing dated 13 November. The regulator gave its approval in a letter issued on 12 November 2026.
Singh's appointment will take effect on 27 November 2026, or on the date he assumes charge if that is earlier, and remains subject to shareholder approval. The bank said it would inform the stock exchanges once he formally takes up the roles.
RETAIL BANKING CAREER IN INDIA AND THE UK
Singh has more than 29 years of banking experience in India and the UK, covering retail banking, SME banking, liabilities and digital transformation, Business Upturn reported. He has held senior leadership positions at ICICI Bank, ICICI Bank UK and SBI UK.
At ICICI Bank UK he was head of retail and SME banking for the UK and Europe, and Business Upturn reported that at ICICI Bank UK he led a transformation from a corporate-focused organisation to a diversified retail and SME banking platform. He holds an MBA in marketing from the Maastricht School of Management and a degree in botany from Delhi University.
FROM PAYMENTS BANK TO SMALL FINANCE BANK
Former managing director and chief executive Rishi Gupta stepped down on 21 May 2026 after seeking voluntary early retirement, and chief financial officer Ketan Merchant then took on the role of interim chief executive.
The change comes as Fino pursues its conversion into a small finance bank. The Reserve Bank granted in-principle approval for the transition on 5 December 2025, and Fino became the first payments bank to achieve that step.
Payments banks such as Airtel Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank and Jio Payments Bank are limited to investing deposits in government securities or bonds, while conversion allows Fino to lend on its own balance sheet. Fino already offers gold loans, housing loans and loans against property through a referral model, and in 2020 became the first profitable payments bank before listing on the stock exchanges in 2021.
THE TGB VIEW
India had 11 small finance banks and six payments banks out of 139 commercial banks at end-March 2025, according to TGB's market profile of India, and public sector banks held 54.9% of the consolidated balance sheet. Fino, the only listed payments bank when its in-principle approval was granted and the first payments bank to secure one, is seeking to join the small finance banks, so Singh's experience running retail and SME banking for ICICI Bank UK is the background that matters for the hire. The next markers are shareholder approval of the appointment and 27 November 2026, the latest date on which his term is set to begin.
Bank news that matters, every weekday.
Follow The Global Banker on LinkedIn