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

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🧐🏆 Posts of the Week

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

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. Banks and payment cos. in India await payouts of the government subsidy for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions processed.
2. Kinara Capital, a small business lender, breached loan terms due to NBFC stress and plans to sell some of its stressed assets while working through INR 1,772cr ($205M) in breached financial covenants related to its borrowings.
3. Karnataka Bank reported a suspicious cross-border Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction of INR 18.87 crore (USD 2.22M) to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
4. Fino Payments Bank, a payments bank in India, plans to convert to a small finance bank and expand its lending business.
5. Indian banks saw a 20% increase in provisioning for non-performing assets (NPAs) in the December quarter, driven by a sharp rise in private sector bank provisions.
6. Global fintech investment declined to $95.6B, a 7-year low according to KPMG.
7. HSBC India, a leading global bank, reported $1.7bn pre-tax profit for India operations in 2024, growing 11% YoY.
8. Razorpay is in talks to invest in Pop, a startup offering rewards for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
9. The government of India is considering raising deposit insurance limit above current INR 5 lakh ($5,800).
10. PaisaWapas, a cashback and coupons startup, grew revenue by 24% YoY to INR 68.9cr ($8M).
11. According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, in FY25 Q1-Q3, only 1.3 firms went into liquidation (an improvement from 5.06 in 2017-18), though resolution timelines are getting longer with 74% of cases exceeding the 270-day limit.
12. LiquiLoans, a P2P lending startup, reported INR 696cr (USD 79M) revenue in FY24, growing 3.4x YoY.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Paytm partnered with SBI Mutual Fund to launch mutual fund SIP product starting from INR 250 ($3).
2. Plum, a group health insurance startup, launched personal insurance products.
3. EaseBuzz, a payment gateway startup, partnered with PICE to launch business payments products.
4. Indian Overseas Bank, a public sector bank in India, launched Aadhaar OTP-based account opening and API banking services for customers.
5. Sammaan Capital, a mortgage lending company, launched a unsecured loans.
6. Razorpay launched multiple new features including Magic Checkout, OmniSaving Account, and WhatsApp QR Checkout.
7. PhonePe partnered with Visa and Mastercard to launch device tokenization for credit and debit card transactions.
8. Falcon launched SurgeFX, a credit card user engagement product.
9. RBI launched a new mobile app called RBIDATA that provides access to over 11,000 economic data series related to the Indian economy.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. RBI (central bank): Invited comments on the draft circular on ‘Responsible Lending Conduct – Levy of Foreclosure Charges/ Pre-payment Penalties on Loans’. Superseded the board of New India Co-operative Bank and appointed an administrator.
2. IRDAI (insurance): Formed a committee to review Insurance Act, 1938 and make recommendations for revisions.
3. SEBI (securities): Mandated new Investor Charter for Stock Brokers, aiming to promote investor protection and education.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Waterfield Advisors, an India-based wealth advisory firm, raised $18M.
2. Credit Fair, a solar finance startup, raised $5M in debt.

ACQUISITION:

1. Paytm acquired 25% stake in Brazilian fintech Dinie for an undisclosed amount.
2. MobiKwik, a digital payments company, acquired 3.4% stake in Blostem Fintech, a B2B banking infrastructure platform.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. EBANX, a Brazilian payments company, secured in-principle approval for a major payments institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
2. The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) launched the ASPIRe virtual asset market roadmap, outlaying a foundation for the city's Web3 financial ecosystem.
3. StraitsX, a Singaporean stablecoin issuer and digital payment infrastructure provider, partnered with Standard Chartered to strengthen the reserve management of its U.S. Dollar (XUSD) and Singapore Dollar (XSGD) stablecoins.
4. Thunes, a Singapore-based cross-border payments company, expanded its services in Taiwan to enable businesses to accept digital payments from major payment partners globally.
5. YouTrip, Singapore-based multi-currency mobile wallet, partnered with Rabbit LINE Pay, a top e-wallet in Thailand, to offer seamless payments and remittances for Thai users.
6. Robinhood plans to launch crypto offerings in Singapore by late 2025 through its acquisition of Bitstamp.
7. DongA Bank, a Vietnamese bank, rebranded its digital banking brand to 'Vikki'.
8. Aspire, a Singaporean SME banking startup, partnered with Visa to launch a corporate card for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Hong Kong, offering expense management and cashback rewards.
9. Endowus, a Singapore-based digital wealth platform, launched a US dollar time deposit service in Hong Kong, allowing clients to invest in fixed-term deposits denominated in US dollars (USD).
10. Mobilink Bank, Pakistan's digital bank, partnered with NymCard and Dellson Associates to launch digital financial services products and solutions.
11. Coins.ph, a Philippines-based regulated cryptocurrency exchange, partnered with other regulated crypto exchanges in Southeast Asia to launch Union Chain, a blockchain-based cross-border settlement network.
12. UOB, Singapore's third-biggest bank, reported net profit of S$1.52 billion ($1.13 billion) from S$1.40 billion a year earlier on the back of higher net interest income supported by loan growth.
13. Thai banks reported a 0.4% decrease in lending in Q4 2024 according to the Bank of Thailand.
14. Grab reported a 17% YoY increase in fourth-quarter revenue for 2024 to $764M, while customer deposits in Grab's digital banking operations in Singapore and Malaysia grew to $1.2bn in Q4.
15. MariBank launched Mari Invest Income, an investment product that allows Singaporean investors to access the global bond market with a low minimum investment of just S$1 and no transaction fees.
16. GoTyme Indonesia partnered with Danabijak and Olsera to introduce a Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) program, aimed at providing quick and flexible financing to MSMEs.
17. BSP, the central bank of the Philippines, announced plans to establish a Financial Cyber Resilience Council aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity posture and resilience of the financial services sector.
18. Mizuho Bank, a Japanese bank, partnered with GenZero, a climate analytics firm, to launch a transition credit framework to support clients in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through loans and investments.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Atome Financial, Singapore-based buy now, pay later platform, raised USD 80M in credit facility.

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