NPCI launched biometric UPI payments; Indonesia, Korea launch cross-border instant payments | TWIF Asia - 4th Apr, 2026

Gold loan originations in India surged 108% in value and 45% in volume during Q4 2025, driven by doubled gold valuations since March 2023, making gold loans the largest retail product.

India's venture capital ecosystem reached $16bn in 2025, up 18% YoY, with fintech investments rebounding 2.2x YoY according to Bain & Company and Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) report.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions reached ₹29 lakh crore ($312bn) in March, growing 19% YoY in value and 24% YoY in volume, now accounting for 85% of all digital transactions in India.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported India's forex reserves declined $11bn to $698bn, primarily due to $13.5bn fall in gold reserves.

XED Executive Development withdrew its ₹100cr ($12M) Initial Public Offering (IPO) from GIFT City in March 2026 due to weak demand and geopolitical tensions.

Corporate India witnessed insurance premiums fall up to 80% across property and commercial lines due to competition and excess reinsurer capacity.

Utkarsh Small Finance Bank sold ₹1,491cr ($161M) of bad loans to asset reconstruction companies for ₹195cr ($21M), representing just 13% recovery.

Crisil Ratings projected Indian banks' credit growth to moderate to 13% in FY27, with Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) rising to 2.5% by March 2027.

M1xchange crossed ₹15,000+cr ($1.65B) monthly supply chain finance value on TReDS in FY26.

Bajaj Finserv invested ₹80cr ($8.6M) in NowPurchase, a metal manufacturing and procurement startup.

The government directed banks to use Grameen Credit Score as default measure for assessing rural borrowers, expanding formal credit access.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) processed 99.9% of 24,911 license applications within the stipulated deadline in March 2026 under its Citizen's Charter.

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) reprimanded HDFC Bank for concealing Credit Suisse bond mis-selling for 5+ years and barred HDFC Bank from new client onboarding.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched biometric authentication for UPI payments up to INR 5,000 ($55) on BHIM Payments app.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued trade relief directions extending export credit tenor up to 450 days till June 30, 2026.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prioritised bank account portability and cross-border payment efficiency in Payments Vision 2028.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated two-factor authentication for all digital transactions effective April 1, 2026.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restricted authorised dealers from offering non-deliverable derivative contracts involving Indian rupee, capped net open positions at $100M effective April 10 2026.

OpenFX, a cross-border payments infrastructure startup, raised ₹871cr ($94M).

Bachatt, an AI-led savings and wealth startup, raised ₹111cr ($12M)

Navanc, India's AI-native banking infrastructure startup, raised ₹10.5cr ($1.15M).

CarePay, a healthcare financing startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

CredResolve, an AI-powered debt collections startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

CMS Info Systems acquired Financial Software and Systems (FSS) ATM Managed Services business for ₹115cr ($12.4M).

TVS Venu Group acquired 100% stake in PGIM India Asset Management with assets worth ₹30,000cr ($3.2B).

MUFG Japan launched transaction banking products to compete in the global $1.3tn market.

South Korea's digital banking sector reached $2.4B in value in 2025, projected to grow 9.7% compound annually through 2030, driven by 25% YoY usage increase and 98% internet penetration.

Digital wallets overtook cards in Singapore and Indonesia as cash declined further, according to Southeast Asia payment methods report by Global Payments.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) outlined five key drivers (SCALE) for scalable tokenized money adoption, highlighting multi-rail architectures where stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) coexist.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) cooled on large acquisitions, pursuing organic growth with new profit goals.

Airwallex obtained e-money issuing and Class A licences from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), enabling full payment services launch in the country.

Bank Indonesia and Bank of Korea launched cross-border Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) payments between Indonesia and South Korea in local currencies.

Nium launched a stablecoin card issuance platform supporting Visa and Mastercard across 190+ countries.

Sumsub introduced an automated Satoshi Test for unhosted wallet verification, supporting over 100 blockchain networks.

SCBX formed BankX Bank after getting approval to establish one of Thailand's three virtual banks, with plans to raise THB 5bn ($153M) capital by FY2026.

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) launched initiatives to strengthen Singapore's gold trading centre, including developing capital market products and building a clearing system for over-the-counter gold trades.

Vietnam introduced 0.1% tax on crypto transactions from March 27, 2026, while licensing five local platforms for digital assets market pilot.

Western Union acquired Singapore-based digital wallet Dash from Singtel, gaining 1.4M users and its first Asia Pacific wallet.