PwC's FinTech Insights

PwC insights of the month

The Indian payments handbook – 2023–2028

Digital payments in India have seen unparalleled growth in the last decade. India has taken steps to regulate and innovate, strengthen the current payment rails, and look out for opportunities which will boost future growth in the industry. Furthermore, as FinTechs offer their technical expertise, they play a crucial role in the overall development of the digital payments industry in India. Moreover, FinTechs are instrumental in building solutions to address the existing challenges in the market faced by different stakeholders. To know more about the trends in India’s fast-evolving digital payments industry, read here.

Embedded finance (EmFi): A strategic outlook

EmFi, the seamless integration of financial services (FS) into the customer journeys of non-financial businesses, has become a disruptive force in the FS industry. By integrating FS into diverse industries, all stakeholders can tap into new customer segments, thus driving customer acquisition, engagement and loyalty. To know more about the landscape, opportunities, challenges, technology and regulatory considerations in this dynamic field, read here.

From around the web

August 2023 witnessed significant developments in the global FinTech ecosystem. A few of these developments are outlined below.

Elavon, a subsidiary of the U.S. Bank, launched the next generation of point-of-sale terminal for small businesses. Read more
Lighter Capital secured USD 130 million in funding facilities to fuel revenue-based financing for technology firms. Read more
Providence Federal Credit Union (FCU) taps Mahalo Banking for digital banking upgrade. Read more
Thoma Bravo acquired ForgeRock, an identity solutions firm, for USD 2.3 billion. This move integrates ForgeRock into Thoma Bravo's existing portfolio company, Ping Identity. Read more
Bank of Montreal (BMO) taps Extend to launch corporate spend management app. Read more
Ramp, a FinTech with a focus on modernising back-office finance operations of businesses, secured USD 300 million in Series D funding. Read more
Peoples Bank partnered with Corserv to launch a credit card programme. Read more
Coinbase, a crypto exchange, expanded into Canada after integrating Interac E-transfer, a payment method, to move money in and out of the exchange. Read more
Microsoft partnered with Aptos Labs to help connect financial service companies to the Web3 ecosystem. Read more
Greenlight, a FinTech focused on financial solutions for kids and teens, launched a credit-builder tool for teenagers. Read more
Credit union associations Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) announced a merger to form a new organisation, America’s Credit Unions. Read more

The European Commission partnered with Moody’s Analytics to help fight financial fraud. Read more
The Bank of England formed the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group for a proposed digital pound. Read more
UK FinTech Growth Partners confirmed USD 1.27 billion investment fund for growth-stage FinTechs. Read more
Payment infrastructure firm Terrapay obtained Electronic Money Institution authorisation to expand operations in Italy and the EU. Read more
Starling Bank, tied up with an unnamed Asian bank to expand into the Asia-Pacific market. Read more

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) launched its financial technology and innovation vision, with a focus on Jordan’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) talent. Read more
AiBANK, and Visa teamed up to boost digital payments transformation in Egypt. Read more
Dubai’s Qarar and US FinTech start-up Biz2X partnered to set up a small and medium enterprise (SME) lending platform in Saudi. Read more
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to promote local currencies for cross-border payments. Read more

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced to commit up to USD 120 million over three years under the renewed Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme (FSTI 3.0). Read more
Central banks of Indonesia and Singapore started trial on cross-border QR code payments. Read more
Visa brings Apple Pay to Vietnam, focusing on cashless payments in the country. Read more
Eddid Financial joined Finnet and MPay to expand FinTech offering in Indonesia. Read more
UnionPay International teamed up with a leading bank in New Zealand to boost payments acceptance in the country. Read more
Infor Nexus teamed up with a Singaporean multinational bank to launch pre-shipment financing for SME suppliers. Read more
Singapore-based gaming company Ampverse has partnered with non-banking finance company (NBFC) DMI Finance to set up a gaming studio in India. Read more
United Commercial Bank PLC (UCB), which is based out of Bangladesh, signed a remittance service agreement with NEC Money. Read more

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider ZestMoney raised investment from existing backers Quona Capital, Zip and others. Read more
PhonePe launched investment platform Share.Market, offering stocks, mutual funds, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and Wealth Baskets. Read more
Paytm will expand its role into the digital lending space by focusing on small credit after forays into BNPL and distributing small digital loans over the last two years. Read more
Paytm ramped up investments in artificial intelligence to build a full-fledged artificial general intelligence stack. Read more
Indian neo-bank Zolve expanded into expat-friendly mobile services with telecom-as-a-service platform Gigs. Read more
Cashfree Payments to support SMEs with the launch of Vendor Payments. Read more
National Payments Commission of India (NPCI) rolled out UPI Chalega 3.0, promoting instant digital payments. Read more
BharatPe rolled out ‘Swipe Android’ machine for merchant payments. Read more
Airtel Payments Bank rolled out its eco-friendly debit card in India. Read more
CRED unveiled RuPay credit card-based UPI payments option. Read more
Gullak Money launched the ‘Snap Save’ feature with UPI AutoPay. Read more
Angel One rolled out their investment platform ‘Super App’ in India. Read more

Incumbent FinTech initiatives

Here are a few incumbent FinTech initiatives launched by Indian financial institutions in August 2023:

Axis Bank added UPI interoperability feature to its Digital Rupee application. Read more
Muthoot Fincorp rolled out its digital platform ‘Muthoot FinCorp ONE’. Read more
Yes Bank launched ‘iris’ to offer digital banking solutions in India. Read more
Bank of Maharashtra rolled out a myriad of digital banking products. Read more
‘Sampann’ by Axis Bank was launched to offer banking solutions to rural and semi-urban customers. Read more

Regulatory developments

Given below are a few important regulatory developments in the Indian FinTech sector.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released a consultation paper mentioning regulated intermediaries to dissociate themselves from unregistered financial influencers (‘Finfluencers’). Read more
SEBI announced new disclosures requirements for select offshore funds. Read more
SEBI reduced the timeline for listing shares to T+3 from T+6 from 1 December 2023. Read more
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) piloted a ‘Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit’, developed by RBI Innovation Hub (RBIH) to streamline digital credit delivery. Read more
RBI proposed a framework for transparent reset of home loan rates and EMIs. Read more
SEBI proposed reducing the minimum issue size of non-profit organisations raising funds through social stock exchanges. Read more
SEBI slashed the approval period for Overseas Investment by venture capital (VC) firms, alternative investment funds (AIFs) to four months. Read more

Top FinTech deals and partnership news – India

The Indian FinTech ecosystem received a significant amount of funding in the month of August 2023. A few of these are highlighted below.

Start-up	Sector	Amount raised	Lead investors	Source
CredRight	Lending	USD 9.43 million	YourNest, Accion International, and other investors	Read more
Stable Money	WealthTech	USD 5 million	Matrix Partners, Lightspeed, Titan Capital, Mars Shot Ventures, and other angel investors	Read more
Emtech	Banking SaaS	USD 4 million	Matrix Partners India, VestedWorld, Equity Alliance, Lofty, and other investors	Read more
FincFriends	Lending	USD 3.5 million	Digital Finance International (DFI)	Read more
Vegapay	FinTech SaaS	USD 1.1 million	Capri Global Holdings, Climber Capital, Eximius Ventures, Upsparks, and other investors	Read more
Mufin Green Finance	Lending	USD 1 million	Shell Foundation	Read more
Square Insurance	InsurTech	USD 1 million	Recur Club	Read more

The FinTech ecosystem saw a diversified set of partnerships built across different sectors. A few handpicked partnerships that developed in the Indian FinTech space in August 2023 are listed below.

Financial firm	Partnered with	Sector	Purpose	Source
PayNearby	Protean eGov	Lending	To reach MSMEs and last-mile borrowers through Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)	Read more
Kiwi	Axis Bank	Payments	To offer a lifetime free Axis Bank KWIK credit card through its app	Read more
Fibe	udChalo	Lending	To offer personal loans to Indian defence personnel	Read more
Zaggle	Yes Bank	Payments	To offer a co-branded corporate credit card	Read more
PhonePe	Cloudera	Payments	To enhance hybrid data management	Read more
Jocata	Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	Lending	To offer digital-first lending products to its growing customer base	Read more
Tide	Northeastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation	Financial inclusion	To upscale local MSMEs in Northeast India	Read more
Bandhan Bank	Odisha government	Payments	To facilitate payment solutions for Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC)	Read more
Yes Bank	Assam government	Banking	To integrate the eGRAS (Government Receipt Accounting System) portal	Read more
SBI Cards	NPCI	Payments	To facilitate its RuPay credit cards on UPI	Read more

Acquirer	Acquiree	Sector	Purpose	Source
Finix Partners	Slash	Payments	To run it independently, as one of its portfolio companies, after revamping its app	Read more