Hi fintech friends, I'm Osborne, investor in early stage startups.

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🧐🏆 Posts of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. Razorpay, a payments and business banking platform, reported INR 3,783cr ($430M) consolidated revenue, growing 65% YoY in FY24-25, with gross profit reaching INR 1,277 cr ($145M)
2. India's credit card spending increased 14% YoY to INR 1.92 lakh crore ($22B), driven by higher incomes and digital payments growth.
3. Indian banks experienced contracting Net Interest Margins (NIMs) by 4-18 basis points in Q2 FY26, causing an estimated 11% YoY decline in aggregate net profit across major banking institutions.
4. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) International Payments partnered with NTT Data Japan to enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) acceptance across merchant locations in Japan.
5. India's merchandise exports rose 6.75% to $36.4bn, while imports surged 16.7% to $68.5bn, pushing trade deficit to $32bn in Sep 2025.
6. Top 10 Indian states contributed INR 78 lakh crore ($883bn) in Average Assets Under Management (AUM) as of Sep 2025, with Maharashtra and Delhi leading contributions.
7. Federal Bank reported INR 955cr ($108M) net profit, declining 9.5% YoY in Q2 2025, with higher provisions and strong operational performance.
8. ICICI Bank grew net profit to INR 12,359cr ($1.4bn) in Q2 2026, with steady loan growth and improved asset quality despite 67.6% treasury income decline.
9. IDFC First Bank reported Q2 FY26 net profit of INR 352 crore ($40M), growing 76% YoY, driven by lower provisions and improved retail and commercial business performance.
10. Punjab National Bank (PNB), state-owned lender, raised net profit by 14% to INR 4,904cr ($557M) in Q2 2026, with improved asset quality, reduced Non-Performing Assets (NPA), and strong digital transaction growth.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Decentro launched a multi-dimensional User Intelligence API enabling comprehensive risk assessment through digital identity, financial credibility, and employment verification across fintech, banking, and e-commerce sectors.
2. Xflow, a cross border payments startup, introduced flexible payment solutions to help Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) navigate global trade challenges.
3. Vegapay, a fintech infra startup, partnered with Paytm, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch Credit Line on UPI, enabling faster digital credit services.
4. Fi launched the MagniFi Federal Credit Card targeting weekend spending in India, offering 10x rewards for consumer weekend activities.
5. MobiKwik launched an AI-powered foreign exchange workflow and voice-activated 'Say to Pay' payment feature.
6. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched AI-powered voice authentication, IoT payment systems, Banking Connect platform, and UPI Reserve Pay to enhance digital payment accessibility and efficiency.
7. Curie Money launched Pay with Mutual Funds, a UPI + investment app, enabling automatic liquid mutual fund investments.
8. Lxme introduced LxmePay, a UPI service exclusively for women, targeting financial inclusion.
9. Paramotor, a payments company launched Yayyy.shop, a digital gifting platform featuring over 250 brands.
10. WinZO, a gaming platform, partnered with SafeGold to launch ZO Gold, enabling digital gold investments starting from ₹2 for India's digital-first users.
11. HSBC launched Digital Merchant Services (DMS) in India and Singapore, enabling merchants to accept multiple payment methods through a single platform.
12. RBL Bank partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch 'Humsafar' RuPay prepaid card, enabling seamless payments across travel, food, fuel, and shopping.
13. Wise launched multi-currency travel card enabling spending in 40+ currencies across 170 countries at mid-market exchange rates.
14. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a blockchain-powered platform for tokenising financial assets using wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), targeting improved market efficiency.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. GoodScore, a credit score improvement startup, raised INR 114cr ($13M).
2. Fundamento, an agentic AI platform for financial services, raised INR 16 crore ($1.9M).
3. CoinDCX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange with INR 1,179 crore (USD 141M) annual revenue and 20.4M users, raised an undisclosed amount from Coinbase.

ACQUISITION:

1. Emirates NBD Bank acquired a 60% stake in RBL Bank through a INR 26,580 cr ($3bn) primary capital infusion at INR 280/share in the largest banking sector M&A in India.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. ShopBack launched ShopBack Pay in Hong Kong, partnering with Octopus to enable in-store cashback at 500+ local outlets, driving online-to-offline retail engagement.
2. Helix, a Singapore-based asset tokenisation platform incubated by Singapore-based fintech firm Helicap, and AmFi Finance partnered to launch tokenised private-credit initiative connecting Latin America and Asia, enabling cross-border institutional capital access through blockchain infrastructure.
3. Pakistan reported 96M digital banking users, 46M Raast ID transactions, and targeted 120 million online banking users by June 2026.
4. Alipay+ recorded 45% YoY increase in mobile wallet transactions in Malaysia, expanding cross-border payment acceptance to 100 markets with 1.8bn users.
5. Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched PathFin.ai knowledge hub, connecting 80+ financial institutions to share AI implementation experiences and reduce deployment time.
6. Bybit partnered with DigiFT in Hong Kong to enable UBS's tokenised Ethereum-based money market fund (uMINT) as collateral for trading, bridging traditional finance with digital assets.
7. Visa partnered with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Soft Space to extend Tap to Pay initiative to Bangkok's top tourist markets, enabling smartphone-based digital payments for local merchants.
8. Mastercard launched Commercial Connect API and clearing controls to simplify B2B transactions, targeting improved payment integration and fraud reduction.
9. HitPay, backed by Tiger Global, partnered with Triple A to enable cryptocurrency payment solutions.
10. Thredd partnered with ANNA Money to launch business accounts platform in Australia, providing instant virtual and physical commercial debit cards with integrated bookkeeping and tax support.
11. HSBC partnered with Juspay to launch a consolidated payment infrastructure platform enabling merchants to access multiple payment methods through a single provider.
12. Bhutan integrated its National Digital Identity platform with Ethereum blockchain, enabling secure, decentralised digital identity verification for citizens by early 2026.
13. Singlife partnered with Salesforce to deploy an AI agent leveraging Data Cloud for enhancing customer service efficiency.
14. SHOPLINE received in-principle approval from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for Major Payment Institution license, enabling end-to-end payment services for merchants.
15. Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched BLOOM initiative to facilitate tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoin settlements across multiple currencies.
16. Reap Singapore received Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), enabling domestic and cross-border money transfer services for SMEs.
17. Saudi fintech Barq received Initial Principle Approval (IPA) from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to launch Electronic Money Institution (EMI), targeting Pakistan's digital financial services market.
18. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) granted Samba Bank in-principle approval to transition into a full Islamic bank, signaling broader Islamic finance expansion in Pakistan.
19. Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) delayed cryptoasset capital rules implementation to 2027 after industry feedback and to align with global regulatory developments.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Jito, a blockchain finance platform, raised INR 440cr ($50M) in investment to facilitate on-chain financial services.
2. Ripple acquired GTreasury, a treasury management systems supplier, for INR 8,650cr ($1B).
3. Xendit acquired Payex, a Malaysian payment gateway, for full market entry and rebranded it as Xendit Malaysia.

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