Fibe Anticipates Future Growth through Expansion into Healthcare and Education Financing

Fibe, IPO-bound Fintech Lender, Focuses on Purpose-Linked Financing for Growth

Fibe, a Pune-based fintech lender that is planning to go public, is shifting its focus to purpose-linked financing segments such as healthcare, education, and other consumption financing categories to drive its next phase of growth. Despite concerns about stress in India's unsecured lending space, the company is betting on these segments to fuel its expansion.

According to sources, nearly half of Fibe's fresh loan originations now come from what it calls "purpose-driven financing". In this type of financing, the loan amount is directly disbursed to hospitals, educational institutions, insurance providers, or merchants instead of being credited to borrowers' bank accounts. This shift is a significant departure from the company's earlier focus on personal loans.

Fibe's loan book has crossed the $1-billion mark, with approximately 40% of its balance sheet now linked to purpose-driven financing products. The remaining loan book continues to be dominated by personal loans. The company has built a substantial presence in healthcare financing, with hospital bills alone reaching a monthly run-rate of Rs 80-100 crore in 20 cities.

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The company's finance categories range from surgeries and ICU treatments to IVF and NICU-related expenses. It also offers education financing, insurance-linked EMIs, and e-commerce financing. Fibe is increasingly positioning itself as a broader consumption financing platform rather than a pure-play personal-loan lender.

Recent Expansion and Diversification

Fibe has recently expanded into travel financing and has launched products such as a co-branded credit card with Axis Bank, insurance distribution, and digital fixed deposits. The company's customer retention-led growth model has been a key differentiator, with nearly 70% of its personal loan book now coming from repeat borrowers. Around 50% of monthly disbursements are to existing customers, according to sources.

The company also tracks a redeployment metric, under which customers who complete their loan cycles return for fresh borrowing. Fibe has maintained an 88% redeployment rate across customer cohorts over the past three years. This suggests that the company has been successful in retaining its customers and encouraging them to take out new loans.

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Operational Metrics and Asset Quality

Fibe operates in more than 940 cities and works with over 6,500 merchant locations. Its average loan size is nearing Rs 95,000, with an average tenure of around 14 months. At a time when the Reserve Bank of India has tightened scrutiny on unsecured lending and fintech practices, Fibe has seen improvement in asset quality metrics. Its gross non-performing assets have declined to around 1.4% from over 2%, indicating a reduction in defaults.

Note: The peer comparison metrics are approximate and based on industry averages.