India

Fintech Brief — July 31, 2026 RBI Frees Up Bulk Deposit Pricing, Mandates Uniform Disclosure The RBI issued the Commercial Banks — Interest Rate on Deposits — Second Amendment Directions, 2026 on July 30, giving banks greater flexibility to price rupee bulk deposits based on Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) run-off characteristics. Banks can now offer differential rates on bulk deposits tied to their liquidity profile — a meaningful carve-out from the otherwise strict uniformity requirement. ...

Fintech Brief — July 30, 2026 Delhi High Court Orders Winding Up of Paytm Payments Bank The Delhi High Court has ordered the winding up of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), formalising the end of one of India’s most prominent payments banks. Through orders dated July 8 and July 22, 2026, the court directed liquidation under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, read with the Companies Act, 2013. The RBI, which had cancelled PPBL’s banking licence in April 2026 citing persistent non-compliance with regulatory norms, confirmed the development on July 29. Former SBI Chief General Manager Girikumar M. Nair has been appointed Official Liquidator, assuming all powers previously held by PPBL’s board from July 8 onwards. The liquidator is tasked with managing asset recovery, settling claims, and ensuring compliance throughout the winding-up process. 1 ...

Fintech Brief — July 29, 2026 Today’s Top Stories RBI Launches ‘Finquiry’ — Structured Fintech Engagement on July 31 The Reserve Bank of India has invited fintech companies to a structured interaction event called ‘Finquiry’, scheduled for July 31, 2026, from 3 PM to 5 PM in Mumbai. Registration closes today at 6 PM. The event is expected to cover tokenization, regulatory compliance frameworks, and broader fintech-banking integration topics. This signals RBI’s continued push toward proactive engagement with the fintech ecosystem rather than purely top-down regulation. ...

Stock Watch — July 28, 2026 Market Day Summary | Not investment advice Summary as of 08:15 IST, July 28, 2026. Data based on July 27 (Monday) closing prices. 📊 INDICES Index Prev Close Close Change % Change Nifty 50 23,767.45 23,995.95 +228.50 +0.96% Nifty Bank 56,693.50 57,087.20 +393.70 +0.69% FinNifty 25,909.90 26,126.00 +216.10 +0.83% Nifty IT ~28,420 ~29,085 ~+665 ~+2.34% India VIX ~14.03 12.66 -1.37 -9.76% GIFT Nifty (Jul 28) — ~23,931 ~-65 ~-0.27% Nifty IT was the strongest sector (+2.34%) after Jefferies upgraded Indian IT from “underweight” to “neutral” and added Infosys to its model portfolio. India VIX crashed 9.76% — volatility easing sharply after last week’s geopolitical panic. Nifty ended just 4 points below the psychological 24,000 level. ...

Fintech Brief — July 28, 2026 RBI’s Dollar-Inflow Schemes Draw $32 Billion, Strengthen BoP RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra revealed in an interview with The Hindu Businessline that the central bank’s June-announced dollar-mobilisation measures have attracted nearly $32 billion in inflows. The bulk came via the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR(B)) deposit scheme, with an additional $7 billion entering government securities through debt FPIs following tax changes. Malhotra noted that the rupee is “not undervalued” at current levels and the 5.25% repo rate remains appropriate. Critically, he acknowledged that the dollar inflows haven’t fully translated into rupee liquidity — partly because rising government cash balances are absorbing the domestic currency side. With the August 3-5 MPC meeting approaching, 95% of economists in a Reuters poll expect rates to remain on hold through 2026, citing Middle East war risks to growth. ...

Stock Watch — July 27, 2026 Market Day Summary | Not investment advice Summary as of 08:15 IST, July 27, 2026. Data based on July 24 (Friday) closing prices. 📊 INDICES Index Prev Close Close Change % Change Nifty 50 23,869.60 23,767.45 -102.15 -0.43% Nifty Bank 56,591.60 56,693.50 +101.90 +0.18% FinNifty 25,992.05 25,909.00 -83.05 -0.32% Nifty IT 28,533.55 ~28,750 ~+216 ~+0.76% GIFT Nifty (Jul 26) — 23,763.00 -65.00 -0.27% Pre-Market Outlook (Jul 27): GIFT Nifty signals a flat to marginally positive start. Mixed global cues — US markets closed higher on Friday (Dow +0.44%, S&P +0.06%, Nasdaq -0.64%), European markets strong (DAX +1.36%, FTSE +0.91%), while Asian markets were weak (Nikkei -2.73%, Hang Seng -0.98%). Crude oil eased towards $90/barrel after a ~10% weekly surge on US-Iran tensions. Key Nifty levels: S 23,500-23,600 | R 23,950-24,000. ...

Fintech Brief — July 27, 2026 UPI Hits All-Time High of 19.47 Billion Transactions in July; NPCI Tightens Balance Check Limits UPI processed a record 19.47 billion transactions in July, valued at ₹25.08 lakh crore, according to NPCI data. Volume was up 4.2% from June’s 18.39 billion, while value grew 21% year-on-year. The previous volume record was 18.67 billion set in May. PhonePe maintained its dominant 48.38% market share by volume, with Google Pay at ~37%. The top three apps now process 93% of all UPI transactions, per Business Standard. ...

Fintech Brief — July 26, 2026 Today’s Top Stories WhatsApp Pay Surpasses CRED in UPI Transaction Volumes WhatsApp Pay has overtaken CRED in UPI transaction volumes, marking a significant shift in India’s third-party application (TPA) pecking order. According to NPCI data for June 2026, Meta’s messaging super-app leveraged its 600-million-plus user base in India to clock higher UPI volumes than the fintech darling built specifically around payments and credit card rewards. The development underscores a persistent pattern in Indian digital payments: distribution advantages built on non-financial platforms can outpace purpose-built fintech apps. CRED, despite its premium user base and aggressive rewards strategy, now faces pressure from an app that users already open dozens of times daily for messaging. The shift has broader implications for NPCI’s ongoing deliberations around market share caps for TPAs and the competitive dynamics between Big Tech entrants and domestic fintech firms. YourStory ...

Fintech Brief — July 24, 2026 NPCI Developing Offline UPI Tap-to-Pay for Transactions Up to ₹2,000 The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is building an offline UPI payment system that will enable tap-to-pay transactions of up to ₹2,000 using preloaded UPI Lite balances, without requiring an active internet connection. The move targets transit hubs, underground metro stations, and areas with poor connectivity where digital payments currently stall. This comes as UPI closes FY 2025-26 with staggering numbers: 241.6 billion transactions worth over ₹308 lakh crore (approximately $3.7 trillion), a 30% volume growth over the previous fiscal. March 2026 alone saw a record 22.6 billion transactions worth ₹29.53 lakh crore. The platform is now live across 12 countries, including France, Singapore, and the UAE, cementing its position as the world’s largest real-time retail payment system by volume. Source: Moneycontrol ...

Fintech Brief — July 23, 2026 NPCI Developing Offline “Tap & Pay” UPI for ₹2,000 Transactions The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is building an NFC-based offline “Tap & Pay” feature for UPI, allowing contactless payments of up to ₹2,000 without an internet connection. According to a Business Standard report, the system would use near-field communication between NFC-enabled smartphones and certified offline PoS terminals. The merchant terminal would locally record the authorisation and submit the transaction for verification once connectivity is restored. ...