RBI approves Mr. Pradeep Natarajan as Whole Time Director of IDFC FIRST Bank Limited

May 17, 2024, Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Mr. Pradeep Natarajan's joining IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd. as Whole Time Director Mr. Natarajan will serve a three-year term in this role.

This decision follows an earlier notification from the bank (letter no. IDFCFIRSTBANK/SD/231/2023-24) dated December 30, 2023. In a letter dated May 16, 2024, the RBI confirmed its approval for Mr. Natarajan's appointment, designating him as bank Executive Director for the next three years.

IDFC FIRST Bank will now undertake the necessary steps to formalize Mr. Natarajan's appointment. However, this appointment will still require the approval of the bank's shareholders.

About IDFC FIRST Bank

Introduction: IDFC FIRST Bank's vision is to build a world-class bank in India that's guided by ethics, powered by technology, and a force for social good. IDFC FIRST is a new-age bank that works in the best interest of its customers.

Customer-First Philosophy: The Bank has a customer-first philosophy and offers high-quality products to our customers. In any product we launch, we bring something special to our customers. For instance, the Bank is the first and only bank in India that offers Zero fees for 28 essential services on Savings Accounts including for ATM cash withdrawals, IMPS, RTGS, NEFT, Cash Deposits at branches, Cash withdrawals at branches, SMS Alerts, Cheque book, Demand Drafts, Pay-order, duplicate statements, etc. 

IDFC FIRST Bank is the first bank to offer monthly credit in savings accounts, so customers earn more with us. The bank’s credit cards have unique features such as lifetime free, never-expiring rewards points, zero interest on cash withdrawal at ATMs, and low APR, so customers incur less fees on our Credit Cards 

Ethics First: IDFC FIRST Bank prioritizes ethics in all its dealings and product design. The Bank believes that income earned unethically is not worth earning. The Bank applies a "Near and Dear" Test in all product design so that the employees of the Bank serve only such products to customers that they'd want for their own loved ones. 

Transformation: IDFC FIRST Bank has transformed from infrastructure to retail banking in four years since the merger, increasing the CASA ratio from 8.7% to 46.4% (September 30, 2023). Total Customer Deposits have increased by 4X from Rs. 39,602 crores at the time of the merger as of December 31, 2018, to Rs. 1,64,726 crores as of September 30, 2023. The Bank has set up 862 branches and 1,111 ATMs. 

Financial Performance: The Bank recorded a PAT of Rs. 1,516 crores (~US$ 185 million) in H1-FY24, with strong Capital Adequacy of 18.06%, including Rs. 3000 crores of fresh equity capital raised in October 2023. The Bank has high asset quality, with Retail, Rural & SME book having Gross NPA of only 1.53% and Net NPA of 0.52% as of September 30, 2023. Overall Gross NPA including infrastructure is 2.11% and Net NPA is 0.68%. 

ESG Goals: The Bank is highly committed to ESG. The Bank has high governance scores, the business lines naturally support social goals, and efforts are ongoing to achieve environmental goals.