Hi fintech friends,

First, some announcements:

1. Bangalore Fintech Happy Hour is being held on Sat, 2nd April, 2022

Please register for the event here: https://bit.ly/BLRFHH

2. We launched our Talent Collective for TWIF Global

Talent Collective an invite-only collection of amazing fintech talent that we will connect to world-class companies.

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).

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.

Want to be a This Week in Fintech - Asia Sponsor? Email me at sponsor@thisweekinfintech.com or see our sponsorship information here.

🦉🏆 Tweets of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. HDFC claimed it has approved the highest ever retail home loans of INR 2 tn ($26.3bn) in FY2022.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Coinbase launched UPI payment for crypto purchases.
2. Paytm launched Payment Analytics for its small business merchants.
3. Flipkart Wholesale partnered with CreditVidya's lending-as-a-service platform to launch BNPL for Flipkart Wholesale's 150K merchants.
4. INDMoney launched Step Up SIP feature to automate a step up feature of periodic investments.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. RBI (central bank): Released a framework for geo-tagging of payment acceptance networks.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Oxyzo, OfBusiness' lending arm, raised $200mm at a $1bn valuation.
2. Credilio, a credit agent digitisation startup, raised $4mm.
3. Struct Finance, a DeFi startup that allows a platform to construct its own structured finance products, raised $3.9mm.
4. Stack Finance, a neo banking startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

ACQUISITIONS:

1. PhonePe acquired GigIndia, an Indian gig worker marketplace.
2. Ola is acquiring Avail Finance, a gig worker credit startup.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. Grab, Atome and Hoolah together with the Singapore Fintech Association and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) are leading a BNPL Working Group, an industry-led initiative that will develop a BNPL framework for the local market.
2. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) along with the central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa have jointly developed two prototypes to enable international settlements using digital currencies issued by multiple central banks (mCBDCs).
3. Viva Republica, a South Korean fintech startup, is planning to raise $1bn ahead of its IPO to launch its fintech super app Toss in Southeast Asia.
4. Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission banned the use of cryptocurrencies as tender for purchase of goods and services.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Dongnae, a South Korean housing finance startup, raised $21mm.

🌏 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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