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

Please enjoy all the news and updates from the past week in today’s edition. If you feel TWIF brings you value, please share it with your friends (and maybe suggest they subscribe too).

Are you considering starting up? I’d love to help. DM me here: osborne.vc/dm

✨ Stablecon Salon - Hong Kong Edition

We’re hosting the first ever Stablecon Salon in Hong Kong during Consensus!

Hosted with Xweave, an invite only evening of candid conversations, great people, and real insights on the future of stablecoins in Asia.

🗓️ When: Feb 11
📍 Where: Hong Kong
🔗 RSVP here (spots are limited)

📝 Posts of the week

#msme #digitallending #fintech | Meenakshi Kolay | 19 comments

3.96 lakh MSME loans. ₹52,300 crore sanctioned in 9 months—all through one digital portal. In case you are wondering, this portal is not a fintech. It’s a GoI website: Jan Samarth. The Jan Samarth Portal is the consolidated portal for all credit-linked Government schemes.Currently, the portal has 15 schemes across 8 loan categories live. About 200 lenders are live on the platform, including 12 Public Sector Banks, 19 Private Sector Banks, 5 Small Finance Banks, and only 7 NBFCs. The majority count is made up by rural banks and cooperative banks. Through Jan Samarth, lenders can use a digital data credit assessment model. It has access to real-time checks for: - KYC checks and fraud detection - GST and ITR verification - Bank statements through Account Aggregator - Credit bureau checks MSMEs get instant approvals with faster turnaround times. Banks make credit decisions based on actual transaction data, not just documents. The system runs end-to-end without manual work for standard cases. And the best part: Government credit guarantee schemes are built into the platform—e.g., CGTMSE (Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises) integration. This helps reduce risk for lenders substantially. For context, in 2024-25, there were 13 million MSME loans with ₹26+ lakh crore disbursed in India. Keeping the larger ecosystem in mind, Jan Samarth portal is doing an outstanding job. This ₹52,300 crore was disbursed by Public Sector Banks alone between April-Dec 2025. While the Government is pushing Public Sector Banks to standardise their loan processes for MSME loans below ₹1 crore, are NBFCs and fintechs missing an opportunity with their limited participation in Jan Samarth? #MSME #DigitalLending #Fintech | 19 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInMeenakshi Kolay

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. PhonePe obtained regulatory clearance for Initial Public Offering (IPO) targeting mid-2026 listing with 100% offer for sale.
2. Reserve Bank of India projected 7.4% GDP growth driven by domestic factors amid global uncertainties.
3. AU Small Finance Bank reported Q3 net profit of ₹668cr ($73M), growing 26.3% YoY, driven by strong core earnings and reduced credit costs.
4. State-owned UCO Bank grew net profit by 16% to ₹739cr ($81M) in Q3, driven by core income growth and reduced non-performing assets.
5. ICICI Bank reported a 4% YoY net profit decline to ₹11,318cr ($1.24bn) in Q3 FY26 due to RBI-mandated agriculture loan reclassification.
6. HDFC Bank reported a net profit of ₹18,654cr ($2bn), up 11.5% YoY in Q3 FY26, with improved treasury gains and loan growth.
7. Yes Bank reported net profit of ₹952cr ($104M) in Q3 FY26, driven by bad loan recoveries and higher core income, marking a 55% YoY growth.
8. Reserve Bank of India proposed linking BRICS countries' central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to facilitate cross-border transactions and reduce dollar dependence.
9. Public sector banks entered QR-code merchant payments market, targeting small merchants.
10. Upstox, an Indian stock broker, reported ₹1,208cr ($132M) total income with 21.5% profit growth to ₹215cr ($23M) in FY25.
11. Go Digit General Insurance reported ₹2,160cr ($235M) quarterly revenue, growing 4% YoY in Q3 FY26 with 18% profit growth.
12. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported credit flow to commercial sector grew 15% YoY to ₹298 lakh crore ($3.2tn), with non-bank sources contributing 47% of total flows in end-December.
13. Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, and Yes Bank reduced exposure to low-yielding loans in Q3 FY26 to maintain net interest margins.
14. Punjab National Bank reported Q3 net profit of ₹5,100cr ($578M), a 13% YoY increase, with focus on retail, agriculture, and MSME sectors and loan recoveries.
15. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) sanctioned 396K small business loans totaling ₹52,300cr ($5.7bn) using digital credit underwriting model between April and December 2025.
16. Crisil Ratings reported gold-loan non-banking financial companies will grow assets under management at 40% CAGR, reaching ₹4 lakh cr ($44bn) by March 2027.
17. Swiss Re reported India's insurance premium growth will accelerate to 6.9% over 2026-2030, driven by strong economic fundamentals and regulatory changes.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India updated mutual funds regulations defining new compliance standards.
2. Reserve Bank of India amended Priority Sector Lending regulations with multiple modifications.
3. Razorpay received Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Payment Aggregator-Physical license for offline payments.
4. Association of Mutual Fund of India (AMFI) submitted 27-point budget proposal requesting tax benefits and regulatory changes for mutual fund investments
5. SEBI and AMFI explored reducing KYC and depository costs to improve mutual fund industry profitability.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Juspay, a payments company, raised INR 460 crore ($50M) at a $1.2bn valuation.
2. AssetPlus, a mutual fund distribution startup, raised Rs 175 crore ($19M).
3. Intellend, an embedded lending startup, raised ₹10.6 crore ($1.1M).
4. Wonder Home Finance, a home finance company by Wonder Cement, raised ₹500cr ($55M).
5. Namdev Finvest, an SME finance startup, raised $37M (₹339cr) in debt.
6. Roha Housing Finance, a housing finance company, raised ₹400cr ($44M) in debt.

ACQUISITION

1. Pine Labs acquired 100% stake in Agya Technologies, an RBI-licensed account aggregator, through its fintech infrastructure arm Setu.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) decided to wind down its US-based digital banking unit Jenius Bank.
2. Singapore banks reduced physical branches and ATMs by 2% annually over the past decade as digital banking adoption increased.
3. Agoda and Mastercard partnered to enable direct, real-time travel point redemptions for bank cardholders across Asia Pacific region
4. HSBC launched a strategic pilot with Harvey AI to integrate artificial intelligence into its Global Legal function to improve efficiency and support business teams.
5. OCBC Bank in Singapore launched a securities financing unit for institutional investors to enhance liquidity and balance sheet efficiency.
6. 9Pay in Vietnam, piloted a stablecoin-to-QR payment gateway under Vietnam's International Financial Centers regulatory sandbox, enabling cross-border transactions for U.S. users.
7. Nium, Singapore-based fintech, narrowed annual loss to S$88M ($69M) with 13.3% revenue growth in 2024.
8. Aspire in Singapore partnered with Deel to provide Employer of Record infrastructure, enabling businesses to hire and manage global teams seamlessly.
9. Fujitsu and SC Ventures launched Qubitra Technologies, a quantum computing joint venture targeting financial applications.
10. Trust Bank, a Singaporean digital bank backed by Standard Chartered and FairPrice Group, launched its US stock and ETF trading platform with Saxo Singapore, offering 7,000 tradable securities through its app.
11. Kakao Bank partnered with SCBX to launch first digital bank in Thailand.
12. Vietnam established stringent licensing requirements for crypto firms, mandating $400M minimum capital and strict regulatory oversight.
13. Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC ordered an external audit of Airwallex to assess anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance.
14. Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) eased access to capital market investments by permitting Asset Management Companies to open Sehl Sarmayakari Accounts independently.
15. Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled comprehensive cryptocurrency guidelines.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. MariBank, a Singaporean digital bank, raised $58.5M.
2. Neem, a Pakistani embedded finance and full-stack payments startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

ACQUISITIONS

1. Airwallex acquired Paynuri, a South Korean payment processor, securing local regulatory licenses and planning business account and payment services expansion.
2. Juniper Group acquired Tagit, a Singapore-based digital banking software startup, expanding its fintech portfolio without disclosing financial details.

If you’ve made it this far - thanks! As always, you can always reach me at osborne@thisweekinfintech.com. I’d genuinely appreciate any and all feedback. If you liked what you read, please consider sharing or subscribing.

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