ECB registrations rise 21% yoy during April 2024 – January 2025 to $47.3 bn
Mumbai: External commercial borrowing (ECB) registrations and disbursements during April 2024 – January 2025 on a cumulative basis were significantly higher than those recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to RBI’s latest monthly bulletin. ECB registrations increased by 21 per cent yoy during April 2024 – January 2025 to US$ 47.3 billion against US$ 39.2 billion in the year ago period. Disbursements were up 40.5 per cent yoy at US$ 42.3 billion (US$ 30.1 billion).

RBI appoints Indranil Bhattacharyya as Executive Director
RBI appoints Indranil Bhattacharyya as new Executive Director
The Financial Express

RINL in talks with SBI-led consortium of banks to refinance long-term loans
New Delhi: Ahead of its second round of fund infusion -- of approximately ₹1,500 crore due in April -- PSU steel-maker RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd) has initiated a fresh round of discussions with an SBI-led consortium of banks to refinance its high-interest bearing long-term loans. The talks include a proposal for the Andhra Pradesh government to pick up stake in the company as equity infusion in lieu of power supply.

DPIIT signs MoU with YES BANK, Kyndryl solutions to bolster startups

New Delhi: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with YES BANK to bolster India’s startup ecosystem.

Business of trust: IndusInd Bank events raise concerns over governance
 

RRBs get five more years to amortise additional pension liabilities
 

Bajaj Finserv: What’s the next stop? Watch out for these 4 key changes
Bajaj Group is finally ending its 24-year strategic partnership with global insurer Allianz. Bajaj Finserv has signed share purchase agreements (SPAs) with Allianz SE to acquire the 26 per cent stake in their two joint ventures — Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company (BAGIC) and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company (BALIC) — for a total consideration of Rs 24,180 crore. 

Bain Capital set to jointly own Manappuram Finance
Bain picks up 18% in Manappuram Finance
The Financial Express

Rajeev Jain appointed Bajaj Finance vice chairman; Anup Kumar gets MD post
Anup Kumar Saha is Bajaj Fin’s new MD

NPCI International expands UPI payments in Singapore through HitPay partnership
NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has partnered with Singapore-based HitPay to expand Unified Payments Interface (UPI) acceptance across Singapore, the companies announced yesterday.

Cut in incentive for low-value BHIM-UPI transactions: Payment service providers’ financial sustainability at risk, warns PCI
Mumbai: The Payments Council of India (PCI) has cautioned payment service providers (PSPs) about their financial sustainability being at severe risk, a day after the government slashed the outlay under the scheme for the promotion of low-value BHIM-UPI transactions (Person-to-Merchant) by more than half. The incentives for transactions up to ₹2,000 for small merchants in the financial year 2024-25 has been slashed from ₹3,500 crore in FY24 to ₹1,500 crore in FY25. Without a viable revenue model, some fintech players may need to scale back operations, slow down innovation, or reassess their market presence, which could impact the broader digital payments landscape, according to a statement by the representative body of non-bank payment system participants in India. The council underscored that the ₹1,500-crore allocation for FY25 is insufficient to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding digital payments infrastructure.

PayU picks up 43% stake in payments solutions firm Mindgate at valuation of $200 mn
Bengaluru: Digital payments major PayU has acquired a strategic stake in payments infrastructure company Mindgate Solutions. The company has acquired a 43.5 percent stake, while the majority ownership will remain with the company’s founders. Sources closed to the development have pegged the enterprise valuation of Mindgate Solution around $150-200 million. PayU is expected to pay around $100-110 million for its stake in the company.

Citi report sets Rs 1,000 target for Paytm, says big changes in UPI could make it biggest winner

While the government has reduced the UPI incentive allocation to Rs 15 billion for FY25, Citi suggests that this move could pave the way for the introduction of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on large-ticket transactions, a development that may work in favor of fintech players like Paytm.

Paytm set to maintain strong contribution margin at 57 per cent by FY27E
 

`Merchants pay us for the value we provide to them': Sheetal Lalwani, Co-Founder & Coo, Juspay
 

WazirX parent verifies platform assets, liabilities before creditor voting
 

PhonePe Wealth launches mutual fund analysis tool CRISP
Bengaluru: PhonePe Wealth has launched CRISP, a tool designed to help investors make informed decisions on mutual fund investment. The number of unique mutual fund investors in India has grown to 53 million as on December 31, 2024, from 20 million as on December 31, 2019, according to AMFI. The CRISP (Consistency, Risk and Investment Style of the Portfolio) tool offers investors a solution to select appropriate funds, as opposed to just looking at past returns.

IDFC FIRST Bank introduces “Ace” feature on its mobile app to provide 2500 plus MF options
 

Jio Finance likely to delay its maiden bond issue of Rs 3,000 crore