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).

Interact with the rest of our TWIF community on Slack - join now - India and Southeast Asia.

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

🧐🏆 Posts of the Week

(Note: Neither TWIF nor I endorse any views in the tweets highlighted above.)

📈 Chart of the Week

Source: Deven Mehta

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. SBI Bank's chairman at a conference said banks lack the skills and infrastructure to lend to emerging areas.
2. RBI's deputy governor stated to use technology for inclusion, cost efficiency, innovation and improved customer experience, but said to reduce technology if it increases risks or creates complex structures.
3. Personal loans segment grew 14% YoY driven by 22% YoY growth in credit card value outstanding and 39% YoY growth in loan against gold jewellery.
4. Acko is investing INR 1,000cr ($120M) in its life insurance business over the next five years.
5. Indian banks are reportedly reluctant to switfch to OTP-less authentication for digital payments.
6. The number of Indian fintech startups grew from 2,100 in 2021 to 10,500 in 2024, according to a JM Financial report.
7. PayU will extend the capabilities of LazyPay, it's consumer payments app, to offer payment features as well.
8. Tata Digital facilitated INR 37,355cr ($4.5bn) in GMV for its commerce platform in FY24.
9. Bajaj Housing Finance is opening its IPO on 9th Sept to raise INR 6,560cr ($781M).
10. HDFC Bank accounted for 21% of the credit cards outstanding as of Jul, 2024 but only 6% of the debit cards outstanding.
11. India's digital payments industry is expected to grow from $3tn in FY24 to $7tn in FY29, according to a PwC report.
12. 67% of deposits with banks at the end of Jun, 2024 were at 7% interest rates, compared to 45% in 2023.
13. Satin Creditcare, a micro finance company, raised INR 120cr ($14M) in a securitisation deal with HSBC India.
14. India's financial sector will have to grow 20x for India to reach a $30tn GDP, according to a report by BCG.
15. The number of credit cards outstanding in India is expected to grow to 200M by FY29 from 100M in FY24, according to a report by PwC.

🚀 Product Launches

1. INDMoney launched Insta Plus, an instant loan against mutual fund product.
2. Zoho, a provider of business SaaS tools, launched a Zoho Payments, a payment gateway for small business users of Zoho to accept payments.
3. Infibeam Avenues, a payment gateway, partnered with ShopSe, to launch BNPL products for users via its payment gateway.
4. Fampay launched Namaspay a UPI app for foreign travellers to India.
5. Xalts, a financial infra for digital assets startup, partnered with Tezos Foundation to drive institutional adoption of real world assets.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. IRDAI (insurance): Introduced regulations prohibiting insurers from collecting premium before approving the policy, for policy's that require a pre-test.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Drip Capital, a trade finance startup, raised $23M in equity and $90M in debt.

1-min Anonymous Feedback: Your feedback helps me improve this newsletter. Click UPVOTE 👍🏽 or DOWNVOTE 👎🏽

🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. Thailand’s card payments value is estimated to reach $94.5b in 2028, growing at a 6.2% CAGR from 2023.
2. dLocal partnered with Kiwi.com to launch mutlicurrency payments for traveller users across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
3. Major Chinese banks listed in Hong Kong posted a 23% return and a 7.5% dividend yield the first eight months of 2024.
4. Skorlife, an Indonesian credit product startup, claimed to reduce costs by 50% using GenAI.
5. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Thailand announced regulatory changes for using digital assets as payment instruments.
6. Revolut launched BillPay for businesses in Southeast Asia to better management their bills and payment processes.
7. Thailand's PM announced that a part of the government's $13bn benefits transfer will be made in cash, a big shift in the flagship policy.
8. OCBC Bank in Singapore launched digital bank accounts for children aged 7-15.
9. Central Bank's of Cambodia and South Korea partnered to launch QR based payment system integration.
10. Ant Group announced the number of international visitors who have used its mobile payment services in China grew 300% in 2024.
11. PFC Technologies, a South Korean P2P lending startup, launched AIRPACK, it's AI powered, B2B credit and borrower assessment model.
12. Funding to tech startups in Southeast Asia grew to $142M in Aug, 2024 (+9% MoM).
13. International tourism in Japan is causing higher losses for domestic credit card companies, because these companies have to pay higher fees to international issuers and card networks, which is 50% higher in 2023, compared to the merchant fees they earn.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Helicap, an Indonesian fixed income startup, raised an undisclosed amount.
2. Validus, an Indonesian SME lending startup, raised $50M in debt.

🌏 Sponsor on TWIF

Mail us at sponsor@thisweekinfintech.com

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.

1-min Anonymous Feedback: Your feedback helps me improve this newsletter. Click UPVOTE 👍🏽 or DOWNVOTE 👎🏽

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn