On The Web

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Deals

YC-backed Cashfree raises $35.3 million for its payments platform

November 24 2020

• in
• India
• Remote Commerce

“Cashfree, an Indian startup that offers a wide-range of payments services to businesses, has raised $35.3 million in a new financing round as the profitable firm looks to broaden its offering… Cashfree kickstarted its journey in 2015 as a solution for restaurants in Bangalore that needed an efficient way for their delivery personnel to collect […]

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Global

Indian central bank committee recommends reshaping domestic banking industry

November 23 2020

• in
• Central Banks
• India

“A working group at India’s central bank has recommended a series of changes that could transform the country’s banking landscape by paving the way for large industrial conglomerates to set up banks. The proposals could also allow large non-banking finance companies and niche payment banks to convert into lenders.”

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Deals

Payments app True Balance raises $28 million to reach more underbanked users in India

November 19 2020

• in
• India

“True Balance, a South Korean startup which runs an eponymous financial services app aimed at tens of millions of users in small cities and towns in India, said on Wednesday it has raised $28 million in a new financing round and expects to turn a profit next year… True Balance began its life as an […]

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Global

ICICI Bank introduces ‘Cardless EMI’ facility using mobile number, PAN and OTP

November 19 2020

• in
• Buy Now Pay Later
• India

“ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a fully digital mode of payment at leading retail stores. Called ‘ICICI Bank Cardless EMI’ (Equated Monthly Instalments), the facility enables lakhs of its pre-approved customers to buy their favourite gadgets or home appliances just by using their mobile phone and PAN in lieu of wallet or cards. […]

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Companies

India opens antitrust case against Google over its payments app

November 10 2020

• in
• Google
• India

“India’s antitrust watchdog has opened an investigation into Google for allegedly abusing the dominant position of its app store to promote its payments service in the world’s second largest internet market. In its Monday announcement (PDF) about opening an antitrust case against Google, Indian watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it is directing an […]

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Companies

Google and Walmart face growth hurdles as India caps payments transactions

November 6 2020

• in
• India
• NPCI

“Google and Walmart have a new challenge ahead of them as they race to expand the reach of their payments apps in India: They won’t be permitted to grow beyond a certain limit. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that operates the popular UPI payments infrastructure, said Thursday evening that it will enforce […]

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Companies

WhatsApp gets approval to launch payments feature in India

November 5 2020

• in
• India
• WhatsApp

“WhatsApp has received approval to roll out its payments service in India starting with 20 million users, the country’s flagship payments processor said on Thursday, giving the Facebook-owned app an entry into a crowded digital payments space. WhatsApp, which has over 400 million users in India, its biggest market, will compete with Alphabet Inc’s Google […]

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Global

Walmart’s PhonePe zips past Google Pay in India as UPI tops 2B monthly transactions

November 3 2020

• in
• India

“UPI, a four-year-old payments infrastructure built by India’s largest banks, surpassed 2 billion transactions last month, exactly a year after hitting the 1 billion monthly transactions milestone. Driving the transactions for UPI — which has become the most popular digital payments method in India thanks to its open architecture that allows interoperability among all participating […]

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Deals

India’s Flipkart buys $204 million stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail

October 23 2020

• in
• India
• Remote Commerce

“Flipkart is acquiring a 7.8% stake in Aditya Birla Fashion as the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce firm makes further push into the apparel category in one of the world’s largest retail markets. The e-commerce group will pay $203.8 million for its stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, a conglomerate that operates over 3,000 stores including […]

On The Wires

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Companies

Mastercard introduces contactless payment on SBI Card App

November 25 2020

• in
• India
• Mastercard
• Tokenization

“Mastercard and SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd. (SBI Card) today announced the launch of contactless payments on the SBI Card app. This is the first-ever app of a credit card issuer in India to use Mastercard’s tokenization platform, Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES), that allows payment credentials to be securely tokenized and stored in […]