Rural fintech firm Navadhan raises $5 mn from Prime Venture Partners, others

Rural fintech firm Navadhan has raised $5 million (about ₹40 crore) in a pre-Series A round led by Prime Venture Partners. Existing investors Gemba Capital and Varanium NexGen Fintech Fund also participated. The new funds will be used to enhance the company’s AceN tech platform, which connects small, rural businesses with NBFCs and banks, and … Read more

AU buys an SFB focused on microfinance

AU Small Finance Bank (AU) is acquiring Fincare Small Finance Bank (Fincare) in a 100% share swap transaction. Fincare is a rural microfinance focused business with 15+ years of experience Microfinance is 53.9% of advances, followed by 18.9% Small Business Loans, 14.2% Home Loans, 10.2% Gold Loans and 2.6% others It’s majorly focused on South … Read more

RBI stops BoB onboarding new customers on Mobile App

The app in question is Bob World. “This action is based on certain material supervisory concerns observed in the manner of onboarding their customers onto this mobile application,” the RBI said. “Any further onboarding of customers of the bank on the ‘bob World’ application will be subject to rectification of the deficiencies observed and strengthening … Read more

RBI sounds alarm bells over strong personal loan growth

The RBI is concerned about the strong growth in some personal loans and is watching out for any stress in that segment, asking banks, NBFCs and fintechs to strengthen their surveillance mechanisms. “Certain components of personal loans are recording very high growth… These are being closely monitored by RBI for any signs of incipient stress,” … Read more

India reaffirms confidence in Aadhaar technology, slams Moody’s concerns

India has reassured confidence in Aadhaar technology after the US-based rating agency highlighted concerns about it like establishing authorisation and biometric reliability. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a strong rebuttal to Moody’s Investors Service by saying, “A certain investor service has, without citing any evidence or basis, made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, … Read more

Return asset papers within 30 days of loan repayment: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said regulated entities have to release original property documents to retail loan borrowers within 30 days of full repayment, and any delay would attract a penalty. This would include consumer credit, education loans, loans given to create or enhance immovable assets and loans for investment in financial … Read more

Fintech firms need to be self-regulated: Rabi Sankar

Self-regulation is the way to regulate fintech companies, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor T. Rabi Sankar. Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest on Tuesday, Sankar said that fintech companies are not strictly financial entities and, therefore, the current model of regulation may not apply to these companies. “Regulators and fintech firms … Read more