Page 3 - Ajinkya Kawale

Paytm builds ₹13,529 crore cash pile, eyes organic growth and acquisitions

The fintech firm said it is prioritising organic investments while remaining open to acquisitions at the right valuation as its cash balance rose to Rs 13,529 crore in Q1 FY27

Over 95% of post-restart trading activity came from returning users: WazirX

Crypto exchange says most trading in H1CY26 came from returning users, with one in seven adding fresh capital as it expands products following its October 2025 restart

Cashfree Payments offers zero payment gateway fees to woo new merchants

Cashfree Payments will waive gateway fees on the first Rs 20 lakh of GMV for new merchants as it aims to double its SMB base to 2 million by the end of FY27

Soon, tap & pay offline via UPI: To work where internet isn't available

This opens up use-cases such as payments on flights and underground trains

Paytm posts ₹220 crore net profit in Q1, revenue from operations up 27.6%

Paytm's Q1FY27 net profit rose 79 per cent year-on-year to Rs 220 crore, while revenue from operations grew 27.6 per cent. The board also approved changes to the utilisation of IPO proceeds

Scapia rolls out maiden ₹20 crore ESOP buyback, two months after fundraise

The travel fintech startup will allow eligible employees to monetise up to 10 per cent of their vested stock options after raising $63 million in a Series C funding round

Banks live on UPI rise nearly fivefold to 731 between 2020 and 2026

UPI added 576 banks over six years as digital payments adoption widened, helping the platform process 22.71 billion transactions in June 2026

India's fintech sector raises $2 bn in H1 2026, led by late-stage funding

Funding in India's fintech sector rose 42 per cent year-on-year to $2 billion in H1 2026, with late-stage companies accounting for four-fifths of the total capital raised

Digital payments boost fintech growth; wealth-tech leads profit pool

Sector's earnings jumped 22% in FY25 to ₹1.03 trillion

AI tools emerge as mainstream search option for users in India: Survey

More than half of Indian users now rely on AI assistants and chatbots for information, with many using them alongside traditional search methods, a YouGov survey has found

DeepMind's Hassabis calls for global standards body for frontier AI

Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis says AGI could arrive within years and proposes a US-led Frontier AI Standards Body as the basis for an international framework to govern advanced AI models

Navi Mumbai Airport launches international ops with Abu Dhabi flights

Air India Express has become the first airline to launch international services from Navi Mumbai International Airport, with thrice-weekly flights to Abu Dhabi beginning July 15

Stockbrokers, dealers leading recipients of UPI transactions, shows data

UPI payments to securities brokers surged 38.5% by value in June, while digital gold transactions jumped sharply, according to NPCI data

PE investments in India clock $8.7 billion in the first half of 2026

Private equity investments in India surged 48% to $8.71 billion in H1 2026, led by software and internet firms, even as the number of deals declined

India may allow agentic AI-led UPI transactions under new NPCI protocol

NPCI is developing a Unified Agent Protocol to enable trusted AI agents to make UPI payments, positioning India at the forefront of agentic commerce

PhiCommerce to focus on payments infra for smaller banks, says co-founder

The fintech firm expects software-as-a-service products to contribute 40 per cent of revenue over the next 18 months as smaller banks seek greater control over payments, said co-founder Rajesh Londhe

611 million UPI transactions authenticated using biometrics in June

More than 611 million UPI transactions worth Rs 25,416 crore were authenticated using biometrics in June, reflecting rising adoption of fingerprint and facial recognition

PhonePe appoints Srijon Biswas as CTO; Rahul Chari takes expanded CPTO role

PhonePe has appointed Srijon Biswas as chief technology officer, while co-founder Rahul Chari assumes the expanded role of chief product and technology officer

PhonePe Insurance CEO exits as fintech merges insurance with payments biz

Vishal Gupta, part of PhonePe's founding team, has stepped down as the fintech integrates its insurance business with its consumer payments business

India's agentic AI dream for fintech needs an infrastructure relook

Use cases raise questions around permissions and security, as deployments progress beyond proof-of-concept