Hi fintech friends,

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).

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Editor’s Note: If you’re an early-stage startup founder raising equity, I may be able to help - reach out to osborne@thisweekinfintech.com.

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🦉🏆 Tweets of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

• WhatsApp Pay reportedly is seeing 2-3mm transactions per day after a cashback promo, compared to a few hundred thousand transactions before.
• Vauld said it has $330mm in assets and $400mm in liabilities, disclosing a shortfall of $70mm in funds.
• A PwC report highlighted that startup funding in India declined by 40% in April to June quarter.
• A survey of 2,899 Indian adults revealed that 26% Indians own a digital only bank account, up from 22% in 2020 and is expected to grow to 26% by 2027.
• The government released data of its street vendor financing program stating that loans were disbursed to 3.32mm street vendors totaling $460mm with 10-12% NPAs.
• The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has shut its Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC).

🚀 Product Launches

• TradeIndia, a catalog and marketplace of Indian small businesses, launched TI Lending, its financing unit.

📝 Regulatory Updates

• NPCI (retail payments): Mandated that UPI apps must seek user consent before collecting location data.
• RBI (central bank): Unveiled a new rupee settlement system for international trade. Penalised Ola Financial Services for flouting KYC norms.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. OneCard, a credit card startup, raised $100mm at $1.4bn valuation.
2. Sewa Grih Rin, a housing finance company, raised $20mm.
3. Hyperface, a credit card infrastructure startup, raised $9mm.
4. Homexchange, a retail property marketplace, raised $4mm.
5. Aerem, a solar financing startup, raised $2.5mm.
6. Swadesh, a cross border fintech startup, raised $2.25mm.
7. Wonderlend Hub, a low code credit SaaS startup, raised $1.6mm.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

• Vietnam's banking association called for an open banking framework.
• OJK, an Indonesian financial regulator, prohibited capital markets firms from marketing, promoting and advertising non-regulated products.
• Kasikornbank (KBank), a Thai bank, announced $~2.73mm (BHT 100mm) strategic funding to boost financial inclusion.
• Line Bank, a JV between Indonesian Unit of Hana Bank and Japan's Line, launched quick credit and unsecured loan products.
• Bank Islam Malaysia, a Malaysian listed bank, is launching Be U, its digital banking app.
• Huobi, the Chinese crypto trading startup, applied for trading license in Hong Kong.
• MUFG, a Japanese bank, is considering a bid to acquire PT Bank Panin, an Indonesian bank.
• Fasset, a London based, GCC crypto startup, partnered with Mastercard to expand into Indonesia for financial inclusion.
• ShopBack, a Singaporean rewards startup, launched BNPL services in Singapore and Malaysia.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. SmartBank, a Japanese personal finance startup, raised $20mm.
2. Kini, an Indonesian on-demand payroll SaaS startup, raised $4.3mm.
3. Hugosave, a Singaorean wealth management startup, raised $4mm.
4. Ancileo, a Singaporean insurance SaaS startup, raised $3mm.

ACQUISITION:

1. Doku, an Indonesian payments company, acquired Senang Pay, a Malaysian payments startup, for $7.5mm.

🌏 International

Please find our global coverage and consider subscribing.

• US and Global, written by Nik Milanovic published on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
• Europe and UK, written by Michael Jenkins published on Monday’s.
• Latin America, written by Christine Chang.
• Africa, written by Benjamin Dada.

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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