Slice SFB aiming to close FY26 in the black; not looking to raise any capital

The entity, which came out of a surprising merger between the fintech Slice and the North East SFB a few months ago, is adequately capitalised and not looking to raise any capital, its executive director Rajan Bajaj told PTI.

The current focus is to build a pan-India business using the low-cost digital channels, and the entity is not interested in any more mergers, Bajaj said, adding that it may look at transitioning to a universal bank in the next five years.

Before the merger, the North East SFB had reported a loss of Rs 441 crore, and Slice was also reporting losses.

“We have turned profitable post-tax on a monthly basis and will close the year in profits,” Bajaj said.

The bank is adequately capitalised and the buffers will also be supported by the profits, he added. As per recent media reports, the bank was aiming to raise up to USD 300 million in capital.

It is adding up to 3 lakh new accounts to its base on the back of digital journeys, Bajaj said, pointing out that the savings bank interest rate offering is at par with the RBI’s repo rate and the fixed deposit offerings are a notch higher, which is helping in attracting customers.

The pace of account opening is the fifth or the sixth fastest in the industry and at par with much bigger rivals, he said.

On the lending front, it does consumer credit including unsecured personal loans and business credit which includes loans against property, he said, stressing that the focus is on serving people who may be underserved by the banking system.

Aiming for a big increase in its borrowers and loan portfolio, the bank launched a UPI-based credit card on Saturday, Bajaj said, pointing out that over 30 crore of UPI users can be the potential target audience for such an offering.

The bank stands to make an interchange of up to 1 per cent depending on where the credit facility is availed, and will also make revenues from rollovers and fees, he said.

Bajaj said its personal credit vertical has been able to deliver credit at a cost which is a tenth of the industry courtesy digital inputs, and added that the credit costs are also 30 per cent lower than the industry average because of the analytics engine which is used for diligence.

The bank also launched a ‘UPI-powered bank branch’ in Bengaluru, which can be used by any bank’s customers for a slew of transactions, including cash deposits into any account using cash accepting machine, and then remitting the money to any mobile number, Bajaj said.