Ajinkya Kawale, Subrata Panda

Stories by Ajinkya Kawale, Subrata Panda

'When the market is good, you have to capitalise on it'

'When the market is good, you have to capitalise on it'

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2024

'Within India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded.'

FACE's ambitious goal: Uniting 75% fintech players

FACE's ambitious goal: Uniting 75% fintech players

Rediff.com   27 Nov 2024

The Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), the only self-regulatory organisation for financial technology/fintech (SRO-FT) companies, is aiming to secure membership from at least 75 per cent of players across all key fintech categories within the next three years, according to a senior executive. The total number of members in the organisation has increased to 110, up from around 60 when it received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an SRO-FT in August.

Credit card spends rise 14.5% in October on festive season purchases

Credit card spends rise 14.5% in October on festive season purchases

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2024

Credit card spending reached Rs 2 trillion in October, a 14.5 per cent rise from September, largely driven by festival season purchases. However, the volume of outstanding credit cards increased only marginally during the same period. The spike in spending comes at a time when nearly all major credit card issuers are calibrating their growth in the segment due to visible signs of stress.

Will Poll Gamechanger Laadki Bahin Continue?

Will Poll Gamechanger Laadki Bahin Continue?

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2024

'I wonder if they will keep it up after the elections.' 'I fear they'll start questioning eligibility -- income, age, bank accounts -- and eventually stop the scheme altogether.'

Crypto or not: Industry to focus on user protection, licensing regime

Crypto or not: Industry to focus on user protection, licensing regime

Rediff.com   25 Nov 2024

User protection and a proposal for a licensing framework for companies seeking to operate in the cryptocurrency area will be part of an upcoming consultation paper on the sector, said a senior industry executive. Even as specific regulations around crypto are yet to take shape, companies are setting up baseline user protection processes, including a redressal mechanism, fraud detection, regular filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs), among others.

Life insurers turn to policies with high value

Life insurers turn to policies with high value

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2024

Life insurers shifted their focus to selling high-value policies in October as the transition to new surrender value norms, effective October 1, limited their ability to roll out all products in their portfolio. This led to a 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in the number of policies sold in October. Additionally, distributors engaged in a fire sale of policies in September due to uncertainty about the impact of the new norms on their commission structures.

Maharashtra farmers seek better pricing for produce

Maharashtra farmers seek better pricing for produce

Rediff.com   20 Nov 2024

A group of onion traders gathered at the Pimpalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), near Nashik, to inspect one of the season's final harvests of red onions as they look to place their bids. They were surrounded by farmers, who brought their produce here from different parts of the district. Farmers have reasons to be optimistic.

SBI eyes Rs 10K cr via infra bond

SBI eyes Rs 10K cr via infra bond

Rediff.com   20 Nov 2024

State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest lender, is looking to raise Rs 10,000 crore through 15-year infrastructure bonds as early as next week, said multiple sources aware of the development. Market participants expect a coupon in the range of 7.15-7.18 per cent for SBI's upcoming infrastructure bond issuance. This comes as demand for longer-tenor papers has remained strong in recent domestic capital market offerings.

RBI rate cut in Feb may not be a done deal, say economists

RBI rate cut in Feb may not be a done deal, say economists

Rediff.com   14 Nov 2024

Even as the high inflation figure for October has ruled out any possibility of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy committee (MPC) in December, a rate cut in February also looks uncertain due to global uncertainties. Economists told Business Standard that unless domestic growth slows markedly, the outlook on rate cut remains unclear. India's headline inflation touched a 14-month high of 6.2 per cent in October, breaching the MPC's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent.

Brand Vistara Ends Its Journey

Brand Vistara Ends Its Journey

Rediff.com   12 Nov 2024

Starting November 12, Vistara aircraft will be operated under the Air India banner, to be identified by a special four-digit flight code beginning with "2".

Govt invites applications for RBI deputy governor's post, last date Nov 30

Govt invites applications for RBI deputy governor's post, last date Nov 30

Rediff.com   5 Nov 2024

The government has invited applications for the post of deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from interested candidates with at least 25 years of experience and below 60 years of age as on January 15, 2025. One of the deputy governors, Michael Patra's current term will end on 15 January. The last date of submission of applications is November 30, 2024.

NPCI nod to onboard users may help Paytm streamline UPI operations

NPCI nod to onboard users may help Paytm streamline UPI operations

Rediff.com   3 Nov 2024

One97 Communications (OCL), the company that operates brand Paytm, received a nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to onboard new Unified Payments Interface (UPI) users. This comes nearly nine months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed an embargo on OCL to add new customers.

Airfares Nosedive For Diwali!

Airfares Nosedive For Diwali!

Rediff.com   31 Oct 2024

'The past few quarters have seen prohibitive fares for advance bookings, only to dip closer to departure.'

'Will Keep Working To Grow Value Of New Businesses'

'Will Keep Working To Grow Value Of New Businesses'

Rediff.com   26 Oct 2024

'Margins will be an outcome of that. They will likely remain somewhat range-bound.'

Modi's AI Mission Set To Take Off

Modi's AI Mission Set To Take Off

Rediff.com   25 Oct 2024

Under the India AI mission, supercomputing, comprising over 10,000 GPUs, will be made available to various stakeholders for creating an AI ecosystem.

HDFC Bank aims to reduce CD ratio, plans slower loan growth in FY25

HDFC Bank aims to reduce CD ratio, plans slower loan growth in FY25

Rediff.com   21 Oct 2024

The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday said it will grow its loan book slower than the industry in the current financial year (FY25). The move comes as the lender looks to bring down its elevated credit - deposit (CD) ratio to pre-merger levels. "We will bring down the CD ratio faster than what we had anticipated.

WazirX creditors quiz founder, legal team on restructuring

WazirX creditors quiz founder, legal team on restructuring

Rediff.com   8 Oct 2024

In a recent townhall meeting, creditors of WazirX pressed founder Nischal Shetty and the restructuring legal team for solutions, seeking representation on the committee of creditors (CoC) and expeditious restructuring within four months, and asked for clarity on redistribution of potential gains from future crypto market upswings.

AI, ML Skills Are In High Demand

AI, ML Skills Are In High Demand

Rediff.com   4 Oct 2024

India leads the pack: 4.1 per cent of job postings demand such skills.

RBI directs gold loan providers to review policies and practices

RBI directs gold loan providers to review policies and practices

Rediff.com   1 Oct 2024

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday directed banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) offering gold loans to thoroughly review their policies, processes, and practices to identify any gaps. The central bank also told them to closely monitoring their gold loan portfolios amid significant growth observed in this segment vis--vis some lenders. Additionally, the RBI, through a circular, instructed these lenders to ensure adequate controls over outsourced activities and third-party service providers.

'We want to be trust marker for the fintech industry'

'We want to be trust marker for the fintech industry'

Rediff.com   28 Sep 2024

'So, we would work with our members to ensure that we as an SRO create some sort of due diligence for fintechs.'