To build a world class bank for aspiring India, driven by human values and technology, and be a force for social good.
We want to touch the lives of millions of Indians in a positive way by providing affordable high-quality banking products and services to them.
The birth of IDFC FIRST Bank
IDFC FIRST Bank was formed by the merger of erstwhile Capital First and erstwhile IDFC Bank on December 18, 2018.
Erstwhile Capital First
Capital First was founded by Mr Vaidyanathan, a veteran banker and entrepreneur, in 2012, by concluding India’s largest Management Buyout of a listed loss-making NBFC and infusing fresh equity into it with the stated intent of converting it to a commercial bank that would finance small businesses.
Mr V. Vaidyanathan built ICICI Bank’s Retail Banking business from 2000 to 2009 and was also the MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company in 2009-10.
Capital First grew to be a strong retail franchise in consumer financing, using new-age technology. It grew at 29% per annum with a 5-year profit CAGR of 55% and pristine asset quality. Between March 31, 2010, to March 31, 2018, its Retail Assets under Management increased from ₹94 crore ($14m) to ₹29,625 crore ($4 b, Sep 2018). In just 7 years, the company had financed 7 million customers, and increased market cap 10X.
As part of its stated strategy, Capital First was on the lookout for a commercial banking license in order to access retail deposits.
Erstwhile IDFC Bank
IDFC Bank was created by the demerger of the infrastructure lending business of IDFC Ltd., a leading infrastructure financing company primarily on project finance and mobilisation of capital for private sector infrastructure development.
IDFC Ltd. was granted an in-principle approval by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a new bank in 2014.
IDFC Bank thus started operations in October 2015, and started building its corporate banking while also launching retail for assets and liability products. Over the next three years, it built strong IT capabilities and designed an efficient treasury management system.
Recognizing the emerging risk in infrastructure financing, IDFC Bank put together a strategy to retailise its loan book so as to diversify and increase margins.
As part of its strategy to diversify its loan book away from infrastructure, the Bank was looking for a merger with a retail finance institution with adequate scale, profitability and specialised skills.
IDFC FIRST Bank
In January 2018, erstwhile IDFC Bank and erstwhile Capital First announced a merger. Shareholders of erstwhile Capital First were issued 13.9 shares of the merged entity for every 1 share of erstwhile Capital First.
IDFC FIRST Bank was founded as a new entity by the merger of the two institutions on December 18, 2018. In January 2019, the combined entity listed its new shares on the NSE and BSE (IDFCFIRSTB: NSE, 539437: BSE). IDFC FIRST Bank made a new beginning with a new Board of Directors, new management, a renewed focus and drive, a new brand logo and positioning.
The Bank’s strategy is to implant the erstwhile Capital First’s tried and tested model of financing small entrepreneurs and consumers on a bank platform and build on IDFC Bank’s network, excellent technology stack, quality digital banking and strong rural presence. It also used cutting-edge solutions to meet the needs of larger entrepreneurs and corporates.
The Bank is committed to building a customer-first culture, which guides its product and service design, and responsiveness to customer needs.
Our founding theme is ‘Always you first’ where ‘You’ refers to our customer. This theme binds the entire organisation, keeping it customer-centric at all times.
Growth is real only when it is sustainable and serves the long-term interest of stakeholders. An aspiration for accelerated and sustained growth paved the way for the merger of erstwhile IDFC Bank Ltd and erstwhile Capital First Ltd on December 18, 2018. Thus, a new bank with a new DNA was born – IDFC FIRST Bank. The merger is a milestone in the history of the two institutions and marks the end of one journey and beginning of a new one.
Renewed Focus On IDFC FIRST Bank is born to be distinctly different from what it was earlier. It has a renewed focus on retail business with an intent to fast-forward its growth trajectory, and to serve many more customer segments that are growth-drivers of the Indian economy. Our new bank fuses state-of-the-art technology superior liability platform of erstwhile IDFC Bank with analytics-led lending capabilities, the retail DNA and strong profitability track record of erstwhile Capital First. It enables both the institutions to expand capabilities and reach and to better serve customers. Thus, the merger sets the stage for the creation of a financially and strategically stronger entity. IDFC FIRST Bank now has a strong funded asset base of more than ₹ 1,10,400 crore with 37% in the retail segment. Its quarterly annualised Net Interest Margin has expanded from 1.9% to 3.0% post-merger. The Bank now enjoys a leading position in some of the retail asset segments. The Bank’s tech-driven liabilities platform is ready to grow exponentially with a new focus on expanding footprint across the nation. The combined customer base is now 7.3 million and growing, with a significant share of it in India’s booming hinterland.
Customer Focused And Analytics DrivenAs a Bank, our approach is to keep banking simple, easy to know and easy to understand. We enable people to save, borrow, invest, grow, and protect their wealth. Our service is characterised by digitisation, personalisation and customer-centricity, in addition to extensive physical reach. In addition to the exceptional strengths of erstwhile IDFC Bank, we derive the required expertise from the unique business model of erstwhile Capital First.It deploys its greenfield method of assessing credit risk – a strength that has enabled it to lend extensively to first-time borrowers and yet maintain a healthy asset quality that has withstood the challenges of economic cycles and policy changes.We are a people’s bank – for the salaried and self-employed, small businesses and micro-enterprises.With a specific emphasis on the underserved and first-time borrowers.The underserved segments are important to us. We also have the opportunity to bring these customers into the financial mainstream and touch their lives in a positive way
Serving the new inspiring IndiaWe believe an immense opportunity awaits us, as IDFC FIRST Bank starts to invest in customer-driven innovation that will create new liability products, new credit markets and new jobs – keeping in view the needs of a New India.By financing the growth of business and consumption, we not only participate in the growth of the country but also generate employment for millions. This, we believe, will lead to greater domestic production, greater consumption and will contribute to the virtuous cycle of growth of the nation. IDFC FIRST Bank is confident and ready to chart out its own destiny. It is now better positioned for growth in its business, deploy new digital channels, enter new markets and serve more customers.
