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

Happy Independence Day to our readers in 🇮🇳 India (15th Aug) and 🇮🇩 Indonesia (17th Aug)

Happy 60th National Day to our readers in 🇸🇬 Singapore (9th Aug)

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).

Note: This edition covers news and updates from 10th to 14th Aug.

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🧐🏆 Posts of the Week

🎥 Video of the Week

Totally agree with Mr Uday kotak | Vikas Khemani posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Totally agree with Mr Uday kotak - US is breaking trust it build over years with the world - US is playing China’s hands - India’s and Indians must be paranoid - Every Indian must get out of comfort zone - every crisis is the best opportunity if one take right way - Government has done great job in macro stability and must play its card right in turbo charging economy. *My two bits - india will come out stronger on other side this crisis as India has few weaknesses than past and domestic market has huge leverage. - we must push hard on domestic growth - Indian beaurocracy has to wake up and work only in the interest of country to build strong india. It is they who can turbo charge economy. - Indian diaspora in US must wake up and pay their due to the country by creating political pressure. This very trump warmed them while seeking votes!* Nirmala Sitharaman Narendra Modi Carnelian Asset Management and Advisors Pvt Ltd Swati Khemani | 183 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInAbhisek Chakrabarti 🌿

[Video] Interesting point of view shared by Mr. Uday Kotak regarding India's need for self reliance at the global economic stage.

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. Paytm received Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in-principle approval for online payment aggregator operations.
2. ICICI Bank reduced Minimum Average Balance (MAB) for savings accounts from INR 50,000 to INR 15,000 across metro, urban, semi-urban, and rural locations following customer backlash.
3. BlackSoil Group, an Indian alternative credit firm, launched Southeast Asia-focused credit fund named BlackSoil Global Credit Opportunities Fund (The SEA Fund).
4. Perplexity Finance customised its financial data platform for the Indian market and offered premium data services at no cost.
5. National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported 1.3M new investor registrations in June 2025, a 15% MoM increase led by Western India, though registrations remained below June 2024 levels.
6. State Bank of India (SBI) reported 15% YoY home loan growth to INR 8.5 lakh crore ($97bn) in Q1 2025, capturing 35% of banking sector's mortgage lending.
7. Groww retained market leadership with 27% share and 12.4M active clients, while Indian stock market's active user base declined 4% to 46M in July 2025.
8. CashKaro, a cashback and affiliate commerce platform, grew revenue to INR 350 Cr ($41M) in FY25, driving over INR 6,000 Cr ($685M) GMV across 1,500 partner brands.
9. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) partnered with Gujarat Technological University (GTU) to develop specialised fintech courses, training programs, and establish a centre of excellence for financial technology education.
10. Mahindra Finance reported INR 529 crore ($60M) net profit in Q1 2026.
11. Morgan Stanley reported unsecured consumer loan growth in India dropped from 31% to 8% YoY in FY23-FY25, with early-stage delinquencies rising across public sector banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
12. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) wrote off INR 5.82 lakh crore ($67bn) in bad loans during FY2020-2025, with recovery rate of approximately 28%.
13. Life Insurance Corporation and private insurers grew premium income by 22.4% to INR 39K cr ($4.5bn) in July 2025, with individual single premiums growing 19% YoY.
14. State-run banks will hold a majority stake in the newly established Digital Payments Intelligence Platform (DPIP) to enhance payment fraud risk management through advanced technologies and real-time intelligence sharing.
15. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Google Pay, PhonePe, and Amazon Pay requested exemption from Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act provisions requiring user consent for transactions.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Groww launched a customisable trading terminal with unique dashboards for professional traders.
2. Jio Financial Services partnered with TaxBuddy to introduce tax filing and planning features on JioFinance app, offering services from INR 24 to INR 999.
3. IndusInd Bank launched 'Indus StartUp Banking' to provide comprehensive financial services for startups under 10 years old, offering current accounts, API access, and beyond-banking support.
4. HDFC ERGO partnered with PhonePe to launch affordable health insurance products priced at INR 12 ($ 0.14) per day with INR 3 lakhs ($3.5K) coverage.
5. Pine Labs launched Online MCP Server, enabling developers to build complete payment workflows using natural language prompts.
6. Equirus Group launched Equirus Finance as a Non-Deposit Taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), targeting high-net-worth individuals with specialised lending solutions.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced continuous cheque clearing system starting October to enhance transaction efficiency and reduce settlement delays.
2. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued circular permitting investment advisers and research analysts to use liquid and overnight mutual funds for meeting deposit requirements.
3. RBI permitted foreign account holders to invest entire surplus balance in special rupee vostro accounts into central government securities without portfolio investor registration.
4. National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) discontinued recipient-initiated UPI pull transactions, which constituted 3% of UPI activity, to prevent digital payment scams.
5. RBI released Responsible and Ethical Enablement of Artificial Intelligence (FREE-AI) framework, recommending 26 actionable recommendations across six strategic pillars.
6. Xaults received regulatory approval from SEBI to conduct a pilot test for direct depository model of fractional stock ownership, marking first significant industry exploration.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Shivalik Small Finance Bank, a small business focussed small finance bank, raised INR 100 cr ($11.6M).
2. Seeds Fincap, a SME finance startup, raised INR 50cr ($6M).
3. Elever, a Bengaluru-based portfolio management firm, raised INR 9.5cr ($1.1M).

ACQUISITIONS:

1. JM Financial Credit Solutions sold 2.1% stake in home loans subsidiary to Bajaj Allianz Life for INR 65cr ($ 7.4M).
2. Niyo, a travel fintech platform, acquired Kanji Forex, a forex solutions company, for undisclosed amount.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. Visa reported digital remittance adoption rates of 74-76% in India, Philippines, and Singapore, with speed, security, and convenience driving digital transfer preference across Asia Pacific.
2. Korean banks initiated QR payment expansion strategies targeting Southeast Asian digital payments market.
3. SoftBank selected Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Mizuho Financial Group, and Morgan Stanley to prepare PayPay's potential US Initial Public Offering (IPO), targeting over $2bn in Q4 of 2025.
4. Singapore reported 65% of retail transactions conducted via mobile devices in 2025, representing a 42% increase since 2022, with highest mobile payment adoption across demographics.
5. DBS partnered with TikTok and Samsung Electronics Singapore to launch 60-hour livestream selling event, generating 15M impressions and helping 60 local businesses build social commerce capabilities.
6. Ant International partnered with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for digital payment licenses.
7. CIMB Singapore launched FX Online, a digital foreign exchange (FX) solution, enabling cross-border trade payments needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at every stage of growth.
8. Nium partnered with iPiD to expand account validation service in Europe, enabling real-time payee verification across 41 SEPA countries to reduce fraud and meet regulatory requirements.
9. Philippine government partnered with GCash to implement automated fare collection system with multiple digital payment modes at MRT-3.
10. CommBank in Australia added generative AI-powered Scam Checker to Truyu identity protection app, helping reduce customer scam losses by 76% since first half of 2023.
11. Payoneer partnered with Citi to launch real-time, blockchain-enabled treasury transfers via Citi Token Services, enabling 24/7 cross-border payments across multiple markets.
12. HBL Microfinance Bank in Pakistan partnered with SUPARCO to launch satellite-based agricultural lending pilot in Okara District, Punjab, using remote satellite imagery for loan assessments.
13. NTT Data partnered with Finastra to expand cloud lending service capabilities.
14. Krungthai Bank, Advanced Info Service, and PTT Oil and Retail Business received virtual bank approval and established Thai Trinity Holding Co., Ltd. to launch digital bank by June 2026.
15. Airwallex received Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license from Dutch Authority for Financial Markets, enabling launch of Yield product for European businesses to earn returns on multi-currency balances.
16. Japan provided technical support to Pakistan for developing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative.
17. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rescinded export payment lien policy, removing penalties for delayed export proceeds and providing immediate full payment to exporters.

💰 Financing Announcements

(no announcements)

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