Page 21 - Fintech Sector

Fintech firms rush to make tweaks as new data protection law looms

Fintechs, banks and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) will have to redraw their contracts with their business partners with whom customer data gets shared

India fourth in number of startups with over $50 mn funding: Scaleup Report

In the survey involving 12,400 startups, India is ranked fourth with 429 scaleups, after the US (7,184), China (1,491), and the UK (623)

Sidbi inks agreement with DLAI, aims to boost India's fintech sector

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on Saturday said it has inked an agreement with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) to boost the country's fintech sector. SIDBI and DLAI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect. The MoU aims for collaborations with SIDBI to develop standard protocols to expedite the adoption of digital lending partnerships including alliances between banks and Lending Service Providers (LSPs), co-lending collaborations among others, according to a statement. SIDBI will also provide resource support to eligible DLAI member NBFCs and also explore Assignment and Securitisation transactions, it added. "We are happy to work with the Industry on other important aspects like standard protocols, customer protection, grievance redressal, among others to facilitate faster adoption of digital lending," SIDBI CMD Sivasubramanian Ramann said. As a part of its business strategy, SIDBI is using digital technology and partnership

FACE adopts new code of conduct to strengthen customer protection

The association applied to become an SRO with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in January last year

Fintech lending rises over 31% to Rs 29,875 crore, says FACE report

9 companies accounted for 81% of total disbursement made by 36 companies that are members of Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment

Developing best practices

SRO for fintechs will be a first step

Will take a shot at bourses after 3-4 quarters of profit: MobiKwik

Taku said that the company plans on tapping into new investments if it is working on a new product or an inorganic play that requires capital

Frictionless credit helped cut operational cost to lenders: RBI's Choudhary

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2023, Choudhary spoke of the importance of customer centricity and governance to ensure the sustainability of fintech entities

Banks have no option but to partner with fintech, says K V Kamath

'India will be a $25 trillion economy in 25 years, digital India will drive 20-25% of this growth'

Governance mechanism can aid in sustainable growth of fintech: RBI official

Sustainable growth of the fintech ecosystem can be achieved by putting in place a governance mechanism and focusing on customer-centricity, a senior RBI official said on Thursday. On Wednesday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had asked fintech companies to form a self regulatory organisation and improve governance standards. "What is needed for the sustainable development and growth of the fintech ecosystem is the right thrust on customer-centricity and better governance standards. These can be achieved by balancing the needs of tomorrow with the wants of today," Ajay Chaudhary, an executive director who heads the fintech department at the Reserve Bank of India, said. He was addressing the final day of the three-day global fintech summit here. Noting that fintech companies have vastly improved the efficiency of service delivery and customer experience, he said that what is needed is more focus on these matters which can be better achieved through the above points. Underlining the nee

Fintech companies need to set up self-regulatory body: RBI governor

He cautioned the fintechs that they should not get carried away with valuations and revenue but need to focus on customer satisfaction

Innovation gains

Paytm is leading the way among fintechs

Fintechs can act both as competitors and collaborators: T Rabi Sankar

He said regulators also draw comfort in these arrangements as traditional financial entities- banks, NBFCs which are well regulated will continue to discharge the basic responsibility

Soon, make your card payments through Paytm and Pine Labs soundboxes

The company said the total deployment of all its soundboxes is pegged at 85 lakh devices in the market. Additionally, the company added that it deploys over 12 lakh soundboxes every quarter

In mutual fund foray, Zerodha plans to emulate its broking playbook

To offer passive direct plans, while relying on digital route for distribution

Fintech startup Khatabook lays off 42 employees to reorient business

Fintech startup Khatabook has laid off 42 employees, or 6 per cent of its total workforce, to reorient business in line with its targets, the company said on Friday. The company had a total workforce of 700 prior to the layoffs. "In-line with our profitability goals, we are reorienting some parts of our business which requires us to operate with a leaner team on certain business verticals," a Khatabook spokesperson said. "This restructuring has impacted 6 per cent of our 700 employees. All impacted employees have been provided with a separation package which covers 3 months of pay, stock vesting option, health insurance extension and other job search-related support," the spokesperson said. Khatabook -- valued at USD 600 million (about Rs 4,500 crore) after its previous funding round -- is backed by Sequoia Capital (now PeakXV Partners), Tencent, Tribe Capital, and Moore Strategic Ventures, among others. The company had raised USD 100 million (about Rs 743 crore) in the funding ro

Fintech loan disbursement rose 21% YoY in FY23: FACE-Equifax report

Number of loans disbursed increased 49%; delinquency rate fell

Alibaba's Antfin transfers 10.3% stake to Paytm chief Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba group firm Antfin has transferred its 10.3 per cent stake in One97 Communications to the fintech firm's founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, according to a regulatory filing. The deal turns One97 Communications, which operates under Paytm brand name, into a majorly Indian-owned company from being majorly owned by Chinese entities. Antfin will continue to hold the economic rights of the stake that is being transferred to Sharma. "We, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V., one of the shareholders of One 97 Communication Limited, hereby file the disclosure in the format prescribed under Regulation 29(2) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011, with respect to disposal of 65,335,101 equity shares of the Company..." the filing said on Wednesday. The transaction was completed on August 14, which brought the total stake of Antfin to 13.49 per cent from 23.79 per cent earlier, the filing said. The deal makes Sharma family t

Intuit executive Alex Chriss to become president and CEO of PayPal

Intuit executive Alex Chriss will become the president and CEO of digital payments company PayPal next month. Chriss will take over the CEO post from Dan Schulman, who told PayPal's board in February that he planned to retire at the end of the year. Schulman will stay on PayPal's board until its next annual shareholders meeting in May 2024. In January PayPal announced that it would cut about 7 per cent of its total workforce, or about 2,000 full-time workers, due to challenging macro-economic conditions. Chriss, who has worked at Intuit for 19 years, has served as executive vice president and general manager of Intuit's small business and self-employed group since January 2019. He led Intuit's USD 12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp in 2021. Other Intuit products include TurboTax and Credit Karma. Chriss will also join PayPal's board, effective September 27. PayPal Holdings Inc., which is based in San Jose, California, is the parent of Venmo, Xoom and Honey, among other brands. It

BharatPe to double its POS network in India over the next 12 months

As a part of the plan, it launched its new Android POS terminal, BharatPe Swipe Android