He wanted to be a pilot, but became a banker instead — first in Citibank and then at ICICI Bank. In 2010, he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and mortgaged his house to buy into a loss-making non-banking financial company.
Looking back, V Vaidyanathan, 56, doesn’t regret the big risk that he took giving up a good job and a board seat at ICICI Bank to build a retail lending business. The MD and CEO of IDFC First Bank had always wanted to set up a bank, convinced that the scope for lending — especially to small enterprises — was enormous. In fact, it took him just two sittings to finalise the merger of Capital First into IDFC Bank, and the regulator backed him. And although virtually all the top private equity firms dismissed his plans as unrealistic, he soldiered on.
Despite the pandemic having disrupted business for a couple of years, the operations of IDFC First Bank are now on a firm footing. In 2022-23, three rating agencies – Crisil, Icra and India Ratings — upgraded the bank’s long-term credit rating to AA+ (stable). Indeed, it was a standout year for the lender with profits soaring to Rs 2,437 crore and delinquencies falling sharply. Critically, the bank was able to take up the share of retail deposits to 76%. The bank’s market capitalisation more than doubled from Rs 24,561 crore in April 2022 to Rs 53,307 crore in March 2023.
Despite his formidable achievements, it isn’t all work and no play. That he’s a keen cricketer is well-known; many a Sunday morning is spent at Shivaji Park perfecting his straight drive with a bunch of youngsters. He also finds the time to play football with his children. A bundle of energy, Vaidyanathan claims he is so taken up with his work that he doesn’t really need to de-stress. But he tries not to miss his weekly guitar lessons—right now he’s trying to pick up the chords for Eddy Grant’s ‘Gimme Hope Jo’anna’. Always willing to sing a number or two at a celebration, from his English repertoire, Vaidyanathan also breaks into a Punjabi song now and then.
Giving back has been an abiding passion. Vaidyanathan, who owns about 1% stake in the bank, has already gifted about Rs 80 crore worth of shares so far to friends and those in need. In March this year, he gifted 700,000 shares worth nearly Rs 5.5 crore to five people, including an Air Force veteran who had once loaned him just Rs 1,000.
Having grown up in different parts of the country — Assam, Odisha and Punjab — he’s not easily frazzled by changes. Nonetheless, it wasn’t easy, he says, growing up in unfamiliar geographies and studying in unknown languages, although it has helped him develop good inter-personal skills. Building a bank with a not-so-great legacy can be very hard and take enormous amounts of time in what is a highly competitive market. But Vaidyanathan, the marathon man, should be able to go the whole distance.
