NPCI facing the heat with UPI down again; SEA Central Banks launch Nexus | TWIF - 06th Apr 2025

The Indian tech ecosystemraised $7.4Bn +23% YoY in funding in 2024, according to the latest Nasscom-Zinnov report.

Indiareports record $129Bn in remittances sent home by overseas Indians in 2024, with $36Bn remitted in Dec, 2024 alone.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI)recorded $290Bn in transaction value in March, 2024 growing 25% YoY.

NPCIintroduced new guidelines for UPI apps to resolve issues related to unused or reassigned mobile numbers and improve user trust and operating efficiency.

India's venture debt market grew at a CAGR of 58% during 2018 to 2024 to reach $1.23Bn last year.

India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized INR 303cr ($35.6M) from PYYPL, UAE-based crypto exchange.

NPCI, which operates UPI, reported intermittent UPI transaction rejections due to financial year closing activities by banks.

Indian banksdisbursed INR15.3 lakh crore ($179Bn) in fresh loans over 11 months (till Feb 2025), with personal loans accounting for 36%, services sector for 30%, and housing loans for 17%.

Microfinance sector's loan disbursement amount reduced by 35% to INR 63,440cr ($7.4Bn) while default rates grew to 6.4%.

Consumer spending through credit cards reduced to an eight-month low of INR 1.67 lakh crore ($20Bn) in Feb 2025

Loan growth of various banks (Q4 FY25, ended Mar, 2025):

Junio, a student fintech startup, received RBI approval to operate as a non-bank lender and launched education finance products.

SEBI (securities regulator): Launched a Document Number Verification System (DNVS) to enable investors to verify the genuineness of regulatory documents filed with SEBI.

RBI (central bank): Introduced revised guidelines for non-bank financing companies. Issued a letter of "displeasure" to Bajaj Finance, citing the failure of the NBFC to identify potential risks to customers in its co-branded credit card business.

Scapia, a travel finance startup, raised $40M.

Infinity Fincorp, a loan against property company, raised $40M.

Aerem, a solar financing startup, raised $12M.

Protectt.ai, a fraud management and cyber security startup, raised $9M.

Folo, a net worth tracking startup, raised $1.2M.

First Data, Netherlands is acquiring 19% in ICICI Merchant Services Ltd.

Igloo, an Indonesian insurance startup, formed a JV with JMT Network Services, a Thai conglomerate, to launch insurance products for the Thai market.

The Government of Pakistanlaunched a $72M digital payments initiative to boost financial inclusion in the country.

Philippines had 29M users, a 40% YoY increase, in Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) users at the end of 2024, according to a report.

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) directed fintech platforms to clearly communicate the underlying products and investment accounts they provide, according to sources.

The MASreleased a consultation paper proposing a regulatory framework to expand retail investors' access to private market investment funds.

Mastercardintroduced a new program to simplify the way banks and platform providers integrate Mastercard's virtual card technology.

Sony Electronics Singaporepartnered withCrypto.com to accept USDC payments on Sony Store Online.

Aspire, a Singapore-based small business banking startup, secured a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license from the MAS to operate a retail fund management business.

MariBank, a Singapore-based digital bank, launched cross-border remittance services for retail and SME users.

A consortium of central banks (India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) has formally establishedNexus Global Payments (NGP) in Singapore to manage a new multilateral cross-border payment system.

Ripplelaunched its US dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, to its Ripple Payments platform to support enterprise cross-border transactions using the digital asset.

In Asia, personalized investment strategies, enabled by tokenization, represent a $3.3Tn market opportunity for asset managers, according to a report by HSBC.

Arta Finance, a Singapore-based wealth platform, introducedArta AI - a suite of AI agents to analyze portfolios, explore investment ideas, and access financial insights on demand.

Airwallex, a cross border payments startup, partnered withYuno, a virtual card platform, to launch virtual corporate cards in Asia Pacific (APAC), allowing businesses to issue virtual cards within minutes.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) partnered withFujitsu to launch an AI-powered data analytics business.

Financial institutions globally spent $44Bn (+6.4% YoY) on market data and analysis in 2024, growing 5.1% year-over-year.

Visalaunched an AI-based fraud prevention tool designed to help merchants and financial institutions identify and prevent fraudulent transactions more effectively.

Higala, a Philippines-based open banking and payments startup, raised $3M.