Piramal Finance shifts urban growth to branch productivity

Piramal Finance has reduced urban branch expansion and is pursuing productivity from its existing network, product penetration and cross-sell. Urban branches stood at 535 in September 2026, down from 543 in March 2026, while the customer franchise grew 26% year on year to 6.5 million and cross-sell represented 14% of retail disbursements in Q2 FY27.

Why has Piramal Finance slowed urban branch additions?

Piramal Finance has moved urban distribution from rapid expansion to calibrated additions and closures. It added 105 urban branches in FY23 and 86 in FY24, but additions fell to 27 in FY25 and 26 in FY26; in the first half of FY27, the network reduced by eight branches after eight closures in Q1 FY27. The urban network consequently moved from 543 branches in March 2026 to 535 in September 2026.

The overall branch network nevertheless expanded because rural and gold formats grew. Total branches increased from 701 in March 2026 to 838 in September 2026, comprising 535 urban, 203 rural and 100 gold branches. Rural branches rose by 67 over the six months and gold branches by 78, whereas urban branches fell by eight, showing that physical expansion was concentrated in newer lending formats.

The urban network remains important to Piramal Finance’s retail distribution despite the slower rollout. Customers acquired through urban branches account for 90% of total retail assets under management, or AUM, according to the presentation. In Q2 FY27, 81% of urban-branch customers were outside tier-1 markets, including 48% in tier-2 cities and 13% in tier-3 cities, while 19% were in tier-1 markets.

How is Piramal Finance increasing products at urban branches?

Piramal Finance is seeking higher product penetration across its 535 urban branches rather than relying mainly on new locations. Housing loans were available at 529 branches in September 2026 and loans against property, or LAP, at 530, close to full coverage. Salaried personal loans were offered at 531 branches, rising from 319 in March 2025, while unsecured business loans, or UBL, reached 402 branches from 293 over the same period.

The expansion has been uneven by product. Used-car loans were available at 296 branches in September 2026, below 363 in March 2025, although still above 169 in March 2023. By contrast, Piramal Finance increased salaried personal-loan availability by 212 branches between March 2025 and September 2026, and increased UBL availability by 109 branches, placing unsecured products in a larger share of the established branch base.

The addressable customer profile supports this multi-product approach, based on customers acquired at urban branches in Q2 FY27. The median customer was 38 years old, earned Rs 49,000 a month and was self-employed in 59% of cases. Customers aged 18 to 44 represented 72% of acquisitions, and 69% earned below Rs 60,000 a month, including 30% earning Rs 30,000 or less.

What does a maturing branch network mean for Piramal Finance?

Piramal Finance expects mature urban branches to lift productivity because benchmark monthly disbursement rises with branch vintage. Branch-led products at branches operating for less than six months had benchmark monthly disbursement of Rs 50 lakh per branch, compared with Rs 2.80 crore for branches aged one to two years and Rs 9 crore for those aged five to six years. These are benchmark figures disclosed by Piramal Finance, rather than reported productivity for every branch.

The composition of the network has moved towards older outlets. In September 2026, 271 urban branches were four to five years old, 120 were two to three years old and 65 were one to two years old; only 25 were less than six months old. In March 2023, 75 of 404 branches were less than six months old, while 282 were in the two-to-three-year bracket, indicating that the network has aged as additions slowed.

The presentation notes that the four-to-five-year bracket in March 2026 mostly represented branches acquired with DHFL in September 2021. This acquired cohort numbered 269 in March 2026, and the corresponding four-to-five-year group was 271 in September 2026. The concentration of branches in later vintage bands is the mechanism behind management’s expectation that urban productivity may continue to increase.

How important is cross-sell to Piramal Finance’s strategy?

Cross-sell is becoming a larger component of Piramal Finance’s retail disbursements, supported by a customer franchise that reached 6.5 million in Q2 FY27 from 5.2 million in Q2 FY26. The cross-sell franchise, defined in the presentation after credit-segment filtering and non-delinquency criteria, rose from 2.9 million to 3.7 million. Its share of the total customer franchise increased from 55.5% to 56.2%.

Total retail disbursements, excluding pool purchases where applicable, rose to Rs 14,186 crore in Q2 FY27 from Rs 10,619 crore in Q2 FY26. Cross-sell’s share increased to 14% from 11%, a three-percentage-point change. In unsecured disbursements, total volumes increased to Rs 6,339 crore from Rs 3,776 crore, while the cross-sell share remained 30% in both periods.

Piramal Finance is also using digital channels to generate and convert cross-sell leads. Its Piramal Instant Assistant generated about 29,000 leads in Q2 FY27, up 26% quarter on quarter and equivalent to 20% of total leads generated. Conversational artificial intelligence enabled Rs 102 crore of cross-sell disbursement in the quarter, three times the preceding quarter, while Piramal Finance reported 6.3 lakh customer interactions through the assistant, up 54% year on year.

Conclusion

Piramal Finance’s distribution strategy combines a stable-to-smaller urban branch base with wider product availability, an older branch mix and a growing eligible customer base. The contrast is clear: urban branches declined by eight between March and September 2026, but total branches increased by 137 through rural and gold formats, while retail cross-sell penetration rose from 11% to 14%.

What to watch next is execution against the disclosed productivity mechanisms. Piramal Finance will need to translate the 271 urban branches in the four-to-five-year vintage band, the 3.7 million cross-sell franchise and broader unsecured-product coverage into disbursements. Separately, its gold-loan network was at 100 branches in September 2026, with management stating it is on track to reach 200 branches by the end of FY27.