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

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🧐🏆 Posts of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. Indian credit card market experienced 5.5% MoM spending growth and 425,000 net new card additions in July 2025.
2. Indian banks reported minimal credit growth and asset quality risks from 50% US tariffs, with export credit representing less than 0.1% of total bank credit.
3. Aye Finance, a small business finance startup, grew revenue by 21% YoY to INR 407cr ($47M) but saw profit decline 50% YoY to INR 30cr ($3.5M) in Q1 FY26.
4. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to acquire up to 24.99% stake in Yes Bank for INR 13,500cr ($1.5bn) from multiple shareholders.
5. Indian banking sector reported NPA provisioning of INR 28,883.6cr ($3.27bn), with private banks increasing provisions by 40.4% YoY in Q1 2024, while Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks reduced provisioning.
6. BCG projected AI technologies would potentially transform 35-50% of Indian banking roles, highlighting limited productivity gains despite increased technology spending in fiscal year 2026.
7. Jana Small Finance Bank initiated merger of Jana Capital and Jana Holdings to create leaner structure while awaiting Reserve Bank of India's universal banking licence decision.
8. Gold loans grew 122% YoY to INR 2.94 lakh crore ($33bn), while personal loan growth slowed to 12% YoY in July 2025.
9. Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI) suspended cashless hospitalisation for Bajaj Allianz and Care Health Insurance customers, requiring patients to pay upfront and claim reimbursements later.
10. Arohan Financial Services, a small business and personal finance lender, reported INR 6,100cr ($691M) outstanding loan portfolio and targeted 20% growth in fiscal year FY26, with net profit of INR 110cr ($13M).
11. Mastercard partnered with Infosys to provide financial institutions enhanced access to Mastercard Move's cross-border payment capabilities, enabling faster and more secure international money transfers.
12. Tata Digital captured one million credit applications on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform, establishing market leadership in credit disbursals.
13. BLS International Services secured a INR 2,055 cr ($233M) order from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to establish and manage district-level Aadhaar Seva Kendras.
14. Indian bond traders urged Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to intervene as institutional buyers retreated, pushing 10-year bond yields to 6.62% and causing bond fundraising withdrawals in FY26.
15. Indian Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) encountered funding pressures as bond yields increased 15 basis points and bank lending slowed, forcing large issuers like Bajaj Finance to delay INR 8,000cr (~$1bn) in bond offerings in FY26.
16. All-India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) criticised government's plan to privatise IDBI Bank, citing betrayal of 2003 parliamentary assurances and potential weakening of public banking network.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Jio Payments Bank announced plans to launch Savings Pro, an innovative savings account that auto-invests idle deposits in overnight mutual funds, serving over 2.5M customers with INR 358cr ($40M) in deposits.
2. Grip Invest partnered with Cybrilla to introduce debt mutual funds on its platform, offering AAA-rated liquid funds with ~7% returns as alternative to traditional bank savings.
3. Groww launched an in-house agentic AI model specialised in analysing customer investment patterns and risk profiles.
4. PhonePe launched home insurance product offering coverage from INR 10 lakh to INR 12.5 crore against 20+ risks, with annual premiums starting at INR 181.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. State Bank of India (SBI) formally requested Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to permit banks to finance acquisitions, initially targeting transparent listed company transactions.
2. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cleared Groww's Initial Public Offering (IPO), potentially valuing the company at $7-8bn at listing.
3. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) clarified cybersecurity and cyber resilience framework requirements, specifying application scope, audit protocols, and compliance expectations for regulated financial entities.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Vistaar Financial Services, a small business finance startup, raised INR 1,360cr ($154M).
2. TransBnk, a transaction banking technology fintech startup, raised INR 220cr ($25M).
3. Kiwi, a credit on UPI startup, raised INR 211cr ($24M).
4. Altum Credo, an affordable housing finance company, raised INR 170cr ($19M).
5. CredRight, an Indian fintech targeting micro-entrepreneurs, raised $10M.

ACQUISITIONS:

1. CMS Infosystems, India's largest ATM management company, acquired Securens Systems and targeted 10% revenue share from AI solutions by fiscal year 2027.
2. Credgenics acquired Arrise, a debt collections service provider with 5,000 professionals across 25+ Indian states, to create CG Setu initiative targeting INR 850cr ($100M) combined annual revenue in 3 years.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. SBI Holdings partnered with Startale Group, Ripple, Circle, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to develop a 24/7 tokenised asset trading platform and multi-currency stablecoin strategy.
2. GlobalData forecasted Japan's credit and charge card payments would reach JPY 130tn ($884M) in 2025, driven by increasing non-cash transactions and merchant card acceptance.
3. SBI Group in Japan partnered with Chainlink to accelerate blockchain and digital asset adoption across global markets, focusing on cross-chain tokenisation and institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure.
4. Aspire, a Southeast Asian finance platform, removed local payroll transfer fees and reduced FX charges for businesses in Singapore, simplifying cross-border team payment processes.
5. KuCoin partnered with Thailand's Ministry of Finance to list G-Token, the world's first publicly offered tokenised sovereign bond on a digital asset exchange.
6. Easypaisa Digital Bank in Pakistan reported $9M profit before tax, growing 39.4% YoY in H1 CY2025, driven by digital lending and payment services.
7. TOBESOFT and FPT Vietnam partnered to expand AI-driven low-code platforms globally, targeting $102bn market by 2030.
8. JuCoin, a centralised cryptocurrency exchange, completed transformation into a Web3 financial ecosystem, serving 50M users across 100 countries with $5B daily trading volume.
9. Atome Financial, Southeast Asia's digital financial services platform, reported US$236M operating income in 2024, processed US$2B GMV, and expanded into multiple financial verticals with strong performance in the Philippines.
10. Coins.ph partnered with Polkadot Asset Hub to enable faster and lower-cost stablecoin transfers for Philippine users.
11. ANZ Bank launched Digital Padlock, a security feature enabling customers to instantly block account access if they suspect fraudulent activity, preventing $100M in potential fraud losses between October 2024 and June 2025.
12. BPC, a Vietnamese banking technology provider, partnered with Visa to enable Vietnamese cardholders to dynamically switch payment modes on a single card, launching first Visa Flexible Credential deployment in Vietnam.
13. Ant International partnered with Standard Chartered and Swift to create a cross-border remittance service targeting 36 digital wallets, initially focusing on Standard Chartered Bank accounts and Alipay+ platforms.
14. Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong penalised HSBC HK$4.2 million for incorrect disclosures in over 4,200 research reports between 2013 and 2021.
15. Da Nang approved Basal Pay, a blockchain-based crypto-to-fiat conversion platform, for a three-year controlled fintech sandbox trial with enhanced regulatory oversight.
16. A Philippine lawmaker proposed establishing a Bitcoin reserve for the country's central bank.
17. 2C2P, a Southeast Asian payments company, received Major Payment Institution licence from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), enabling domestic and cross-border money transfer services.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. DigiFT, a Singaporean tokenised Real-World Assets (RWA) exchange, raised $25M.
2. Atlas Consolidated, a Singaporean banking-as-a-service startup, raised $18M.
3. Pintarnya, an Indonesian employment and financial services startup, raised $16.7M.
4. Bang Jamin, an Indonesian insurtech startup, raised $4M.
5. Tazapay, a cross-border payments platform, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B round.

ACQUISITIONS:

1. SBI Holdings acquired 2.95% of Tohoku Bank in Japan initiating strategic collaboration to support regional economic revitalisation and digital transformation.

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