Fintech Brief — July 07, 2026
Apple Restores Card Payments in India After Four-Year Hiatus
Apple has begun restoring card payments for Apple Account purchases in India, ending a more than four-year suspension that followed RBI’s 2021 recurring payments framework overhaul. Users can now add eligible Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards to their Apple Account for subscriptions like iCloud+ and Apple Music, as well as App Store purchases.
In May 2022, Apple suspended card payments after the RBI mandated stronger customer authentication for recurring card transactions and required tokenized card credentials — preventing merchants from storing raw card details. Since then, Indian users relied primarily on UPI, net banking, and Apple Account balance for digital purchases.
The phased rollout is expected to expand to all eligible users over time. Industry observers see this as the back-end compliance work finally catching up with regulatory requirements, and it rekindles speculation about a potential Apple Pay launch in India — something the company has explored but not announced.
RBI Tells Parliamentary Panel: Cryptocurrency a Threat to Economy
The Reserve Bank of India has reiterated its hardline stance on virtual digital assets, telling a parliamentary panel that cryptocurrencies pose a threat to the Indian economy. The submission aligns with the central bank’s long-standing position that private cryptocurrencies carry risks related to financial stability, monetary policy transmission, and consumer protection.
This comes amid continued global regulatory divergence on crypto — with jurisdictions like the EU implementing MiCA frameworks while others maintain outright bans. India currently levies a 30% tax on crypto gains and a 1% TDS on transactions, effectively chilling the market without an outright ban.
Rupee Slides to Three-Week Low at 95.39 Against the Dollar
The Indian rupee weakened 20 paise to touch a three-week low of ₹95.39 against the US dollar on Monday, driven by stronger dollar demand and arbitrage activity between onshore and offshore NDF markets. Indian corporates reportedly increased arbitrage plays, adding pressure on the domestic currency.
The rupee’s slide follows a broader emerging market trend amid a stronger greenback globally. With India being a large crude oil importer, a weakening rupee has knock-on effects on inflation, import costs, and the current account balance — all of which feed into the RBI’s monetary policy calculus.
Navi Plans ₹3,000 Crore IPO, Files DRHP by March Quarter FY27
Sachin Bansal-led fintech startup Navi is preparing for its second IPO attempt, planning to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by the end of FY27. The company is targeting a ₹3,000 crore raise and is simultaneously in talks for a pre-IPO equity round led by Prosus.
The IPO structure is expected to include both a fresh issue and an offer-for-sale. Earlier this year, Navi was reportedly seeking a $250–300 million raise at a $1.8–2 billion valuation, though Prosus is said to be pushing for around ₹13,000 crore (~$1.4 billion). Navi had previously filed for an IPO in 2022 but withdrew the draft papers citing market conditions.
Source: Economic Times / Inc42
Global Signal: CaixaBank and Visa Complete First AI-Agent Payment
In a milestone for “agentic commerce,” Spain’s CaixaBank has completed a real-world payment initiated by an AI agent acting on behalf of a human cardholder, in collaboration with Visa. The transaction used standard card rails with existing tokenisation, ID verification, and fraud monitoring systems — proving that AI agents can make payments within current infrastructure without new protocols.
While this is a European pilot, the implications for India’s digital payments ecosystem are significant. As UPI processes billions of monthly transactions, the question of AI-agent-initiated payments — who authorises them, how consent works, and liability frameworks — will inevitably come to the fore for RBI and NPCI.