UPI Finds a Revenue Stream. Grab Finds a Loan Book | TWIF India & Asia

NPCI set 0.4% MDR on UPI >₹2,000 from Oct 15, capped at ₹300 for high-value payments.

Fibe secured SEBI nod for its ₹750cr IPO, complementing AI-driven fraud/KYC tools from PayU and Protean.

Grab acquired 60% of Atome Financial for $1.5bn, a major push into BNPL and consumer lending.

GXBank partnered for $110M MSME financing; DTCpay raised $25M for stablecoin payments, boosting digital assets.

Grab acquired 60% stake in Atome Financial, a BNPL company, for $1.5bn), expanding consumer lending capabilities.

Tangerpay, an Australian laundromat payments fintech startup, merged with British software company CleanCloud, at $70M.

Pay10, an Indian alternative payments startup, launched its interoperable payments platform across India, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Hungary.

PayU launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered fraud liability protection solution for merchants.

DBS Bank India partnered with Juspay to expand DBS MAX, enabling merchants to access multiple payment aggregators through a single integration with consolidated visibility and intelligent routing.

Protean, an IT services company in India, launched a CKYC-based platform that enables consent-driven onboarding, automated reporting, notifications and re-KYC, aiming to reduce customer friction, turnaround times and institutional KYC costs.

HashKey Exchange launched Hong Kong Dollar Stablecoin (HKDAP) deposit and withdrawal functions for eligible professional investors via Ethereum network.

AsiaPay in Hong Kong launched an All-in-One Card Tokenisation Solution supporting 7 international card brands across 12 Asian markets.

HitPay launched Virtual Accounts across Singapore and Philippines for 15,000+ finance teams to collect B2B payments with real-time reconciliation.

Shinhan Financial expanded partnership with Vingroup into capital markets beyond vehicle finance, planning equity and bond financing through Shinhan Securities Vietnam.

Jumio launched selfie.DONE identity verification in Asia Pacific, increasing completion rates by 20% with 60% of users skipping document submission.

TrueMoney partnered with Fireblocks to add digital asset wallets to its Thai Baht (THBT) blockchain payment pilot, supporting up to 20,000 participants through December 2026.

CXA Group founder Rosaline Chow Koo launched Covee, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered employee benefits platform automating renewal, claims analytics, and enrolment.

Ant International launched 100 AI-native financial technology products across payments, accounts, foreign exchange, and treasury, rolling out globally in 2026.

Citi and Mastercard launched Smart Subscriptions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Qupital, a Hong Kong-based working capital and trade finance company, raised $300M.

DTCpay, a Singapore-licensed stablecoin payments startup, raised $25M.

Finloop, a Hong Kong-based tokenised real estate finance startup, raised $10M.

Jar, India's digital gold savings startup, raised ₹29cr ($3M).

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced 0.4% MDR on UPI transactions above ₹2,000 ($21), capped at ₹300 (USD 3.1) for transactions above ₹75,000 ($780), effective October 15, 2026.

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) launched digital insurance initiatives targeting 100% vehicle insurance coverage by 2030 (currently 3%), with only 0.85% of premiums generated digitally.

Hong Kong mapped its first five-year development plan with AI governance, fintech infrastructure and digital-asset initiatives, allocating $3M for AI welfare programs by 2030.

Fibe, fka Early Salary, an Indian digital consumer lending startup, received SEBI approval for ₹750cr ($80M) Initial Public Offering (IPO).

BRICS finance ministers discussed efficient cross-border payment mechanisms through the BRICS Payment Task Force.

Godrej Wealth filed for mutual fund licence, targeting INR 1 lakh crore ($11.5bn) AUM by 2031.

AU Small Finance Bank's vehicle loan portfolio in India crossed ₹50,000cr ($5.2bn) Assets Under Management.

24X7 Moneyworks Consulting, backed by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), onboarded over 300,000 Kisan Credit Card (KCC) applications across 238 cooperative banks and 32,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

Malaysia’s GXBank, the World Bank and IFC partnered on a risk-sharing debt facility designed to unlock up to $110M in financing for underserved MSMEs.

Gig, a South Korean payroll management startup, grew to 150,000 monthly active users across 40,000 business locations, while its five-person, AI-enabled operator ConnectFit product grew to a 30% operating margin and plans to evolve into a payroll-data-driven fintech ecosystem.

BCRemit, a Philippine remittances startup, processed $1bn in cross-border transactions across 24 countries since 2016.

Saudi Arabia's central bank withdrew from mBridge, a China-led Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platform, after completing its proof of concept in May 2025.

SuperAPI, an Australian payroll-to-superannuation infrastructure startup, processed $2.7bn annually in mandatory retirement contributions for 16 million workers.