IDFC First Bank has returned to normal pace of business growth in quick time after it discovered a Rs 590 crore fraud in February.

Even in the month of March when the fraud news was hot, the mid-sized private sector lender opened a high number of customer accounts and new business went on as earlier times.  

In a post-earnings analyst call, IDFC First Bank managing director and CEO V Vaidyanathan said similar crises at other banks typically take about a year or two to stabilise, but that has been sorted out faster here and “new account opening is coming along perfectly strong”.

“We are quite confident that this matter is behind us. Q1FY27 itself, you will see a strong growth in the bank,” he said. 

Despite the fraud and the US-Israel war with Iran and the geo-political hostility, the bank posted a flat growth in deposits, which Vaidyanathan said is “good news for the quarter that went by”, especially as the lender cut rates on savings deposits.

For the quarter ended March, the bank’s total deposits grew 17% year-on-year and 1% on quarter to Rs 2.94 lakh crore. The low-cost CASA (current account savings account) deposits rose 24% YoY but fell 2.5% on quarter. The CASA deposits ratio stood at 49.8% as on 31 March 2026, higher than 46.9% a year ago but lower than 51.6% a quarter ago.

The bank management expects deposits to grow 5% quarter-on-quarter.

On the loan front, the bank reported a 20% YoY growth and 4% on quarter rise to Rs 2.9 lakh crore for the three-month period ended March 2026. The loan book, which is diversified across 25 business lines, is being built with an overall yield of 13% and credit cost of around 2%.

The bank’s net profit for the quarter ended March 2026 stood at Rs 319 crore, up 4.9% YoY but down 36.5% sequentially. Profit was hit by an impact of the fraud incident amounting to Rs 483 crore post-tax and a trading loss of Rs 118 crore during the quarter.

The lender’s operating expense rose as it recognised the entire fraud amount as an expense in the books for the March 2026 quarter.

Earlier on 23 February, IDFC First Bank disclosed a Rs 590 crore fraud at its Chandigarh branch. The lender later said it paid Rs 645 crore to ‌settle claims related to the fraud, which is Rs 55 crore more than its initial estimate of Rs 590 crore.

For the March 2026 quarter, the bank’s net interest margin (NIM) improved to 5.93% from 5.76% in the preceding three-month period, but was slightly lower than 5.95% in the year-ago period. 

The management expects NIM to stay broadly stable in FY27, around the 5.75% level reported for FY26.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio fell by 26 basis points YoY and 8 basis points to 1.61% as on 31 March 2026.

Net NPA stood at 0.48%, improving by 5 basis points YoY and also 

Provision coverage ratio was at 70.46% as on 31 March 2026 versus 69.08% in the preceding quarter.