Blacksoil Acquired a Solar Finance Biz; B Capital Acquired Russell for $2.8B | TWIF Asia

Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) reported ₹58.6 lakh crore ($613bn) loan growth at 14.2% YoY by end-May 2026, trailing banks' 17.7% pace, with retail lending driven by gold-backed loans.

Indian banks deepened credit card usage among existing customers, issuing 10.7cr (107M) cards to 5.2cr (52M) unique cardholders as of March 2026, per TransUnion Cibil.

Indian auto financiers urged industry adoption of embedded finance to streamline car purchases, shifting from traditional EMI products.

Indian banks posted 10.1% YoY profit growth in Q1 FY2027, though net interest margin outlook split across HDFC, ICICI, and Axis Bank.

Asia-Pacific accounted for 35% of global ATM market revenue at $9.3bn in 2025, driven by branch-light banking expansion in China and India.

Phi Commerce, a payment aggregator and gateway, is expanding its PayPhi payments platform to Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported net profit of ₹55,230cr ($5.8bn) in FY26, with value of new business margin improving to 21.2% from 17.6% in FY25.

India's life insurance industry reported new business premiums of ₹1 lakh crore ($11bn) in Q1 FY27, growing 16.6% YoY, with private insurers increasing market share to 40%.

Securitisation issuances surged 22% YoY to INR 60,000 crores (USD 659.3M) in Q1 FY27, with gold loans capturing 31% market share per CRISIL Ratings.

Indian Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) recorded 14% YoY loan growth in May 2026, driven by 20% growth in retail lending and 70% surge in gold loans to ₹3.29 lakh crore ($34.4bn).

Private sector banks wrote off 50% of non-performing assets (NPAs) totaling ₹1.28 lakh crore ($13.4bn) in FY26, more than double the 24.3% write-off ratio of public sector banks.

Credit cards' share of unsecured borrowing fell from 56% in 2016 to 38% in 2026 per TransUnion CIBIL data, with small personal loans gaining ground.

Indian banks slowed Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR-B) deposit mobilisation as higher overseas borrowing costs, rising 50 basis points, eroded leverage math for double-digit returns.

State Bank of India saw ₹12,465cr ($1.3bn) in foreign-currency deposits under RBI-backed Foreign Currency Non-Resident scheme.

DBS Bank India reported 49% YoY net profit growth to ₹1,020cr ($110M) in FY26, driven by 15% advances growth and improved asset quality.

GIFT City partnered with Vietnam International Financial Center–Da Nang to exchange institutional knowledge and explore cross-border investment opportunities.

Bloomberg launched an electronic trading system enabling global investors to trade Indian government bonds through the Bloomberg Terminal, connecting to India's Negotiated Dealing System-Order Matching (NDS-OM) platform.

PhonePe partnered with TaxBuddy to launch tax filing feature, enabling Income Tax Return (ITR) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) filing.

Belong, a non-resident Indian investment startup, launched GIFT Nifty Futures trading via NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) for NRIs and OCIs.

Bluevine, a US-based small business banking startup, launched US digital banking platform for India-resident founders, targeting 100,000+ India-linked US businesses annually with up to 3% APY interest.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved intraday borrowing framework for mutual funds to manage liquidity mismatches, effective September 1, 2026.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred banks from charging customers for SMS alerts, costing large lenders ₹300cr ($31M) annually.

Onpoint, a consumer rewards startup, raised ₹5cr ($600K).

BlackSoil acquired Credit Fair's solar financing business managing ₹153cr ($16M) in assets.

ekincare acquired Superclaims, an AI-powered claims adjudication SaaS platform, to expand insurance distribution globally.

TPG, with co-investors GIC Singapore and ICICI Bank, acquired Aseem Infrastructure Finance for ₹4,800cr ($500M) to launch a $1bn green financing platform in India.

UK-based Aviva agreed to acquire 26% stake in Aviva Life Insurance India from Dabur Invest Corp, becoming first foreign life insurer with 100% ownership.

Bank transfers and electronic payments from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates faced disruptions over several weeks in July 2026, though both central banks denied direct restrictions.

Asia-Pacific investment banking fees fell 3% to $12.1bn in H1 2026, while Singapore grew 3.1% to $418.4M.

Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) eased credit scoring rules to expedite loan disbursement processes.

Southeast Asia fintech funding fell 4% YoY to $685M in H1 2026.

Choco Up, a supply chain finance startup, launched a new Accounts Payable (AP) financing product, complementing its existing Accounts Receivable (AR) / invoice financing to offer an integrated working‑capital suite for SMEs facing lengthening payment cycles.

Asia-Pacific usage-based insurance market is projected to expand at 18.6% CAGR through 2035, driven by rising vehicle ownership in China and India, digital-insurance mandates, and smartphone telematics adoption.

iFAST, a Singaporean fintech wealth company, grew net profit to $52M in 2025, targeting $80bn in assets under administration by FY30.

Liquid Group partnered with National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) and VietinBank to launch cross-border QR payment service between Vietnam and Singapore.

Singapore Management University launched Singapore Capital Markets Initiative (SCMI) to conduct research on Asia's growing role in global corporate financing.

Swift launched a blockchain-based ledger enabling 24/7 cross-border payments with tokenized deposits, with 17 banks preparing live pilot transactions.

PayNow, Singapore's national payment system, launched next-generation upgrades targeting merchant and business payments to compete with card networks.

M-DAQ Global expanded into Vietnam through METech partnership, gaining direct access to regulated payment infrastructure across four ASEAN markets.

Annature, an Australian digitial identity startup, launched a fully integrated AML/CTF compliance module specifically for Australian accounting firms.

Airwallex launched Octopus to launch integrated payment solution for online and offline checkouts in Hong Kong, simplifying merchant operations.

Animoca Brands and Visa completed an AI-powered commerce pilot in Hong Kong, enabling AI agents to identify rewards and execute purchases within user-defined controls.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) in Thailand [partnered with]() Citi's 24/7 USD Clearing and Citi Token Services for near real‑time, round‑the‑clock cross‑border USD payments.

The Australian central bank outlined a draft long‑term vision and roadmap for its account‑to‑account (A2A) payments system, aiming to give banks, PSPs and merchants clarity on how A2A rails like NPP/PayTo will evolve as BECS is gradually decommissioned.

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ruled out case-by-case approvals for PayNow nicknames to prevent impersonation scams.

PingPong received in-principle approval for Capital Markets Services (CMS) from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer over-the-counter foreign exchange (FX) derivatives products.

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) ordered Hong Kong internet brokers and virtual asset trading platforms to replace one-time passwords with phishing-resistant authentication within 12 months.

Swyftx, an Australian digital assets brokerage company, was granted Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) by ASIC.

Xendit, Indonesian payments infrastructure startup, integrated with Dragonpay, a Philippines' alternative payments platform, expanding regional footprint across Southeast Asia.

Stakk, an Australian embedded finance company, acquired Parascript, a US‑based AI document‑intelligence, for $63M.

Nium acquired Cypher, a crypto-native wallet company, to bridge fiat and digital asset payments.

B Capital Group, and other investors, acquired Russell Investments at $2.8bn to modernise the 90‑year‑old asset manager with AI and technology-led capabilities.