RBI tells Bajaj Finance to stop loans under ‘eCOM’, ‘Insta EMI’ products
The Reserve Bank of India has directed Bajaj Finance Limited to stop the sanction and disbursal of loans under two of its lending products – ‘eCOM’ and ‘Insta EMI Card’ with immediate effect as the non-banking financial company did not comply with certain norms.

RBI orders Bajaj Finance to stop lending via eCOM, Insta EMI Card
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has asked Bajaj Finance to stop the sanction and disbursal of loans under two lending products: eCOM and Insta EMI Card, with immediate effect. This is due to non-adherence by the NBFC to the RBI’s digital lending guidelines, particularly the non-issuance of Key Fact Statements (KFS) to the borrowers under these two lending products and the deficiencies in the Key Fact Statements issued in respect of other digital loans sanctioned by the company.

DICGC report: Banks witness drop in insured deposits; uninsured funds surge in FY23
Mumbai: The ratio of insured deposits to assessable deposits in the banking system declined to 46.31 per cent in FY2023 from 49 per cent in FY2022 as customers, lured by attractive deposit rates, placed larger deposits (over and above the Rs 5 lakh deposit insurance cover) with banks, going by latest Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) data.

Banking sector Q2 results: Healthy earnings print with slowing momentum; asset quality continues to improve
The Indian banks delivered healthy earnings during the second quarter of FY24, but the performance was marked by slowing momentum. The lenders reported net profit growth of 33% year-on-year (YoY) led by a reduction in credit costs.

UCO Bank faces technical glitch; IMPS services hit
State-owned UCO Bank on Wednesday said its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of the bank faced some technical glitch and made IMPS offline. The financial impact due to this is yet to be ascertained, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The ugly underbelly of BoB’s app usage fiasco
Mumbai: "Gandha hai par dhandha hai," says a man in a recording of a conversation accessed by Mint. That Hindi saying, loosely translated, means that a dirty job is still a job.

IDBI Bank revises fixed deposit rates; extends validity for special FD scheme. Latest rates here
IDBI Bank has extended the validity of special fixed deposit (FD) schemes. In July, IDBI introduced a special FD scheme called Amrit Mahotsav FD for a tenure of 375 and 444 Days days. It has extended these special fixed deposit deadlines to December 31 from the earlier October 31 deadline.

Jaiprakash's lenders taken 'unawares' by ICICI move on company debt
ICICI Bank's invocation of pledged Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) shares to settle a part of the company's debt appears to have caught other lenders unawares. These lenders, in the 32-bank consortium, have written to ICICI Bank, the lead lender, seeking to know how the bank can go ahead and settle a part of its debt when others in the consortium are awaiting a resolution.

UPI Lite launched for Federal bank; how customers can use it

Federal Bank has announced that it has launched the UPI (Unified Payment Interface) Lite functionality for small-value digital payments. UPI Lite allows an individual to store money in their UPI Lite on-device wallet and make offline payments to merchants.
 

NPCI explores methods to increase RuPay on UPI payment adoption by vendors
According to the BL report, the integration of RuPay credit cards on UPI has led to confusion, particularly among merchants who are not able to differentiate between the two transaction types. This has caused discrepancies in merchant discount rates (MDR) and interchange fees. NPCI has introduced a mechanism, currently live, that notifies the system when a credit card on UPI transaction occurs. This mechanism empowers merchants and banks to accurately classify and assess charges for the specific transaction type.
 

NBFC-MFIs largest provider of microfinance
Kolkata: Microfinance Industry Network (MFIN), an umbrella body of microfinance institutions (MFIs) of the country, in its report said that NBFC-MFIs are the largest provider of micro-credit amongst other regulated entities. In a report of the MFI sector prepared by MFIN for the year 2022-23, it said that in the microfinance space, NBFC-MFIs provided finance with loan outstanding of Rs 1,38,310 crore as on March 31, 2023, accounting for 39.7 per cent of total industry portfolio.

Microfinance industry adds 80 lakh new women clients to its fold in FY23
Chennai: The microfinance industry (MFI) in the country added 80 lakh new women clients to its fold during 2022-23, taking the total number of low-income women clients to 6.64 crore across 729 districts through 12.96 crore active loans as of March 2023, according to India Microfinance Review FY23 report.

Manappuram Finance surges 10%, nears 52-week high on strong Q2 results

The stock of the gold financier had hit a 52-week high of Rs 156.55 on September 4, 2023. At 10:25 AM; it was quoting 9 per cent higher at Rs 153, as compared to a 0.9 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Dabur's open offer price for Religare is fair: Mohit Burman

Dabur Group scion Mohit Burman on Wednesday described as 'fair' the price offered by his family to acquire more Religare Enterprises stock from minority investors, adding that incumbent chairperson Rashmi Saluja - wary of ceding control - is the only person opposing the purchase bid that exceeds Religare's current market price.

Paytm collaborates with Amadeus to drive travel experience with AI
This partnership brings together Paytm's vast user base and Amadeus's expertise to provide travellers with a more seamless and efficient booking experience, according to a release.

BharatPe probe finds invoice discrepancies, vendor linkages to Grover’s family members
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, in a status report on its investigation into allegations of irregularities at BharatPe, has stated that at least eight human resources consultancy firms involved with the payments company for recruitment services had links to the relatives of Madhuri Jain – its former head of controls and the wife of cofounder Ashneer Grover.

PayU eyes B2B pay, credit play under new top brass

Going beyond ecommerce payments and consumer credit, Naspers-backed PayU is in the process of setting up business-to-business payment rails for its Indian clients. Additionally, the company is evaluating opportunities in the supply chain financing space.

As RuPay on UPI faces some roadblocks, NPCI explores corrective options
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is exploring ways to encourage payments made via RuPay credit cards linked to UPI (Unified Payments Interface), a medium that has been facing some roadblocks due to slower-than-expected adoption. The government introduced UPI payments via RuPay credit cards in September last year. While allowing the linkage of RuPay credit cards on UPI has increased the acceptance infrastructure for such cards multi-fold, the biggest drawback is the inability of merchants and banks to differentiate between card on UPI and regular UPI transactions being made via QR codes. “It was launched in a hurry and it is still a problem because when you go to a small merchant and pay by credit card, they are used to zero MDR. But if a credit card is used they get less money,” a senior payments industry official told businessline.

Retail surge propels NSE delivery volumes to six-year high
The National Stock Exchange (NSE), has seen a striking surge in delivery volumes, reaching a six-year high, driven predominantly by increased retail participation.

RPT – Turkey’s crypto rules seen addressing licensing, taxation after boom
Turkey’s new rules to regulate the crypto market are likely to focus on licensing and taxation, sector officials say, as the world’s fourth-biggest crypto-trading country seeks to get off an international financial crime watchdog’s “grey list”. Ankara promised the regulations last month amidst a years-long boom in crypto trading, as soaring inflation and a plunging lira currency drives a demand for alternative assets.

Bitcoin falls below $35,600; XRP, Toncoin shed up to 5%

Major crypto tokens were trading in the deep red on Wednesday despite softer-than-expected inflation data supporting the view that the Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates.

Six large & mid cap schemes fail to beat benchmark in three consecutive years

Six large & mid cap schemes have continuously underperformed their respective benchmark in the three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), an analysis of yearly returns of the category by ETMutualFunds showed.

Invesco Mutual Fund changes fund managers for three schemes

Invesco Mutual Fund has announced changes in fund managers for its three equity schemes. Through a notice cum addendum, the fund house informed the investors that the fund managers for Invesco India Growth Opportunities Fund, Invesco India Midcap Fund, and Invesco India Smallcap Fund have been changed.

5 equity mutual funds multiplied lumpsum investment three times in five years

Five equity mutual fund schemes have tripled investors’ wealth in five years, data crunching by ETMutualFunds revealed. We looked at the performance of 187 equity schemes that have completed five years in the market.

Indian equities jump 1.2%, tracking global cues
 

India 10-yr bond yield drops most in 2 months as Treasury yields plunge
The Indian benchmark bond yield posted its biggest single-session drop in two months on Wednesday, following a plunge in U.S. Treasury yields on growing bets that the Federal Reserve may start cutting rates in the first half of 2024.

India benchmark yield slips below key level as US peers plunge
Indian government bond yields declined in the early session on Wednesday, with the benchmark bond yield falling to nearly a six-week low, tracking a plunge in U.S. peers, amid rising bets the Federal Reserve may not hike rates further.

Bank of Baroda board to meet on November 18 to consider infra bond issue
Bank of Baroda on Wednesday said its capital raising committee will meet on November 18 to discuss and approve the issuance of debt instruments to raise tier-I and tier-II capital.