'Illegal gambling operators are systematically exploiting India's advertising and payment infrastructure, siphoning off crores of rupees from outside the country.'
High frequency indicators, like vehicles sales, air traffic, steel consumption and GST E-way bills, point towards a sequential pickup in momentum of economic activity during the second half of the fiscal 2024-25 and sustain moving forward, RBI Bulletin said on Wednesday. However, a strong dollar, driven by US economic resilience and trade policy pivots, could exacerbate capital outflows from emerging economies, push risk premiums higher, and intensify external vulnerabilities, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in RBI's February bulletin.
While it took UPI three years to reach a billion transactions in a month, the next billion came in just a year. Digital payments, especially UPI, saw increased adoption in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), the company that operates the Paytm brand, posted a consolidated loss of Rs 539.8 crore in the fourth quarter of 2024-25 (Q4FY25), slightly lower from the Rs 549.6 crore it reported in Q4FY24. Sequentially, the fintech company's loss widened from Rs 208.3 crore in Q3FY25 on account of a one-time exceptional expense amounting to Rs 522 crore during the quarter ended March 2025.
Mobile wallet adoption is surging in India and swiftly becoming a primary payment option, surpassing traditional methods like cash and cards. Over the next few years, payments via mobile wallets in India are likely to surpass the Rs 531.8 trillion mark in 2028, witnessing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3 per cent between 2024 and 2028, according to GlobalData - a London-based leading data and analytics company. The value of mobile wallet payments in India, as per a GlobalData report, grew at a CAGR of 72.1 per cent between 2019 and 2023 to reach Rs 202.8 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in 2023.
India appears poised to sustain its growth in a more durable way than before with the economy carrying the momentum from FY23 into the current fiscal year, the Annual Economic Review for 2022-23 released by the finance ministry on Thursday said. However, the report cautioned that escalation of geopolitical stress, enhanced volatility in global financial systems, sharp price correction in global stock markets, a high magnitude of El-Nino impact, and modest trade activity and FDI inflows, are factors that could constrain the pace of growth. "Should these developments deepen and dampen growth in the subsequent quarters, the external sector may challenge India's growth outlook for FY24," the finance ministry said.
UPI transactions are growing faster, but wallets remain relevant for those without a bank account and seeking cashbacks.
The finance minister, in her Budget speech, should focus more on what she is directly responsible for, rather than on programmes where her role is largely supportive, notes Nitin Desai.
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the tenth time in a row but changed its stance to 'neutral' that may lead to a cut in the forthcoming policies. RBI maintained status quo despite the US Federal Reserve lowering the benchmark rates by 50 basis points last month.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
With rising disposable incomes in cities beyond metros, the penetration of credit cards - and consequently, credit card spending - is growing at a much faster pace than in traditional metro cities, primarily driven by e-commerce spending.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
The government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is likely to start levying user charges in the current financial year.
With digital adoption fast gaining currency, India is likely to see retail digital payments double to $7 trillion by 2030 from current levels, a study by Kearney and Amazon Pay said. In the report 'How Urban India Pays', Kearney-Amazon Pay said strong adoption of digital payments in online purchases has potentially led to a permanent shift in consumer behaviours, fuelling offline adoption as well.
Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, on Wednesday said its loss in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24 has widened to Rs 550 crore following the ban imposed by the RBI on transactions related to its payments bank. The company had posted a loss of Rs 167.5 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. "Our fourth quarter FY24 results were impacted by temporary disruption on account of UPI transition etc. and permanent disruption because of the PPBL embargo.
Industry associations and companies in the United States, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Coalition of Services Industries and the iconic bike company Harley Davidson have called on the Donald Trump dispensation to push India to reduce tariffs, non-tariffs, and regulatory barriers to boost American exports.
'The country is a good test bed for enterprise adoption, but to scale rapidly, companies will need to look outside the country for customers.'
'It is the responsibility of industry to take the very bright talent whose knowledge of software engineering basics is very high, and then give them additional skills.'
Leading brokers are expected to increase brokerage rates in the coming weeks, as they navigate a series of regulatory changes that are expected to squeeze profitability. According to industry sources, top brokers may soon begin charging for equity trades and raise the flat fees for intra-day and derivatives trading by 10-30 per cent. Several smaller players have already hiked their brokerage charges, signalling a potential end to the zero-brokerage era that has drawn millions of new investors into the stock market and fuelled active trading.
About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, but electric car penetration -- share of electric car sales in total sales -- was just about 2.5 per cent.
In today's rapidly evolving digital payment landscape, security concerns remain a top priority for stakeholders across sectors.
With over 80 million Unified Payments Interface (UPI) users, Amazon Pay, the payments business of e-commerce giant Amazon, has been growing at 40-50 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), said Mahendra Nerurkar, chief executive officer (CEO) and vice-president (V-P), Amazon Pay India. "Leveraging just the micro peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions on UPI is not a business model. "While we have enabled those features, we do not chase monthly active users based on this.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed both Houses of Parliament, highlighting the government's achievements in various sectors, including economic growth, social welfare, and infrastructure development. She emphasized the government's efforts to lift the economy out of "policy paralysis" and create a more inclusive society. Murmu also acknowledged the challenges posed by digital fraud and cybercrime and stressed the need for a social infrastructure revolution. The President's speech is considered a policy statement, outlining the government's vision and roadmap for the future.
Encouraging results for PayTM (One97 Communications) for the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) have led to a surge in the company's stock price, gaining nearly 5 per cent during Monday's trade. PayTM reported Q4FY23 revenues at Rs 2,330 crore, up 51 per cent on year-on-year (YoY) basis (13.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter or QoQ), led by monthly transaction user (MTU) growth of 27 per cent and average revenue per user or ARPU growth of 19 per cent YoY. MTU is defined as users with at least one transaction/month.
Walmart-owned digital payments app Phonepe on Thursday said it has raised $350 million at a valuation of $12 billion in a funding round led by private equity firm General Atlantic. "Marquee Global and Indian investors are also participating in the round," PhonePe said in a statement adding the investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion total fundraise that commenced in January 2023. The fundraise follows PhonePe's recently announced change of domicile to India and full separation from Flipkart.
The NITI Aayog may want us to believe this is one of the easiest payment systems in the world, but Tinesh Bhasin decodes the many unanswered queries and concerns involving the United Payments Interface.
The One97 Communications stock saw a surge in interest as the company's operating performance update for August was considered positive by the Street. In addition, there was a news buzz as the company released a new hitech soundbox, which has longer battery life and processes all major cards. The performance indicates that the company, which is better known by its Paytm brandname, is still on course to achieve its guidance of going cashflow positive by the end of the 2023-24 financial year (FY24).
Paytm, the country's leading fintech player which had to shut its payment bank business following regulatory action, is revisiting its business strategy including partnership with lenders. Also, the company's founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma has decided to oversee the day-to-day operations with all the major verticals reporting directly to him now. "The thing on top of everyone's agenda is getting the core businesses back on track," a person in the know said.
By the end of December 2021, India had 389 million users who did not have access to mobile Internet, while there were 765.8 million mobile Internet users in the country.
'80% of start ups fail because they don't have a support system to help them in the very early phase.' 'It's not just an idea that takes an entrepreneur through the initial three years of journey.' 'What plays a definitive role in making a start-up successful is idea+team+capital+mentors+access to a larger ecosystem.'
India's internet economy is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2030, primarily due to e-commerce, which is expected to be worth $325 billion and rank third globally, according to industry experts. Last year marked a crucial turning point for India's e-commerce sector, with notable changes in consumer trends, technology, and regulations. InGovern Research Services, a leading corporate governance advisory firm, hosted a virtual roundtable to deliberate on the notable developments in India's e-commerce sector in 2023, with a particular focus on the essential role of customer trust in fueling its ongoing expansion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with "mission-mode" reforms being undertaken by his government. Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue in Johannesburg, Modi also said India soon will become a $5 trillion economy.
Bill Gates specifically complimented India's Aadhaar identity system and the country's performance in the financial services and pharma sectors.
Walmart-owned fintech firm PhonePe said it has crossed 500 million lifetime registered users on its platform. With this milestone, 1 in 3 Indians are now on PhonePe. The company said it is the first Indian internet company to have reached this scale globally. This milestone has been achieved in just over 7 years since the PhonePe UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payments launched in August 2016.
While analysts assessed One97 Communications (Paytm) Q1FY24 results as in-line with guidance, the market was disappointed and the stock fell by around 5 per cent. Paytm reported a net loss of Rs 360 crore, but revenue grew 39 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,340 crore. It was supported by strong growth in gross merchandising value (GMV), higher disbursements and the addition of subscription devices.
Yes Bank on Saturday reported over two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 452 crore for March quarter 2023-24, primarily due to benefits on the provision front. In the year-ago quarter, the bank logged a profit of Rs 202.43 crore. The private sector lender benefitted from write-back on income tax and interest on income tax returns, but the profits were limited by its inability to comply with the mandatory priority sector lending (PSL) requirements, its management said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday concluded a crucial visit to Male, assuring the country's top leadership that the Maldives remains an important partner of India in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region.
In the first such collaboration for India, the country's flagship payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Singapore's PayNow payment system have launched a real-time cross-border payment linkage system. The linkage, which was launched by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, was kicked off by a live cross-border transaction between Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon, using mobile phones.
During a three-hour long virtual meeting with CEOs of large public and private sector banks along with heads of NBFCs, the prime minister assured them that the government is ready to take all steps to support the financial sector.
India must remain an integral part of the global economy if it has to grow at 9-10 per cent over the next three decades, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Tuesday. Speaking at the 15th India Digital Summit, Kant said India needs to become a major global exporting nation, without that it will not be possible to become richer and create wealth for its people over the next three decades.
