Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO of Fino Payments Bank

Filno Payments Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rishi Gupta resigned from his position on Thursday, May 21, 2026, citing a desire to explore new opportunities after two decades with the Fino group. The board accepted his voluntary early retirement request effective the same day after the close of business.

The development came even as the board, at the same meeting, cleared Gupta of any wrongdoing related to a GST intelligence investigation. The Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Hyderabad had initiated a probe against him, but after reviewing legal opinions and reports from external lawyers and consultants, the board concluded that no prima facie case could be made out against Gupta and declared him fit and proper to continue in his role. He chose to step down nonetheless.

Ketan Merchant, who has over 27 years of banking experience spanning HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Barclays, will continue as Interim CEO for a period not exceeding three months from May 27, 2026, subject to Reserve Bank of India approval. Anup Agarwal, a chartered accountant with 20 years in finance and prior stints at Deutsche Bank India, Standard Chartered, and Maersk Group, will continue as Interim CFO for up to three months from July 6, 2026.

In his retirement letter, Gupta described himself as one of the founding members of the Fino group and said he had witnessed the institution evolve from a Section 8 company into a listed bank. He said the time had come to “rediscover my purpose outside the Bank.

Under his tenure, Fino became the first profitable and publicly listed payments bank in India and received in-principle RBI approval to convert into a Small Finance Bank — a transition the bank says it remains committed to completing within RBI’s prescribed timelines.

Published on May 22, 2026