Bank of America invests $2bn to enter India | TWIF - Asia & India

Jio Credit, the consumer financing arm of Reliance Jio, raised ₹18,268cr ($1.9b) from Bank of America for 49.9%.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company acquired ICICI Securities' Portfolio Management Services (PMS) business with ₹291cr ($31M) AUM.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank partnered with Kyndryl to develop an Agentic AI Center of Excellence for enhanced customer experience and operational efficiency.

PaisaOne, a financial products marketplace, launched across India, connecting borrowers with 30+ banks, NBFCs and fintechs offering personal loans.

Yuze Digital, a Dubai-based small business expense management startup, partnered with Airpay, an Indian payments company, to launch acquiring capabilities in India for small businesses.

State Bank of India (SBI) claims to have underwritten ₹1 lakh crore ($1.1bn) in MSME loans using AI in FY26.

CapitalXB Finance, a small business factoring startup, implemented Biz2X's AI-powered digital lending platform, reducing KYC onboarding from 2–3 days to under an hour and improving credit assessment turnaround by 80%.

Coinbase secured Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to establish an international tokenisation hub for tokenised securities.

LoanOptions.ai, an Australian loan comparison startup, partnered with Lendi Group's Aussie to provide asset finance referrals through 90+ lenders for brokers.

Airwallex partnered with Air Corporate to enable Hong Kong founders to register a company and open a multi-currency payment account through a single application.

ShopBack expanded its Visa partnership to enable rewards on in-store payments across 20,000+ physical merchants in Singapore.

Thredd partnered with Cashi to launch stablecoin spending cards in Hong Kong.

Trust Bank launched Freedom Card, Singapore's first stockback credit card, offering 3% stockback on spending until December 31, 2026.

Syfe, a wealth management startup, launched Cash+ Enhanced, a Singapore dollar product offering up to 3.0% projected net yield with no lock-in period.

Apple launched Apple Pay in the Philippines, supporting cards from four major banks.

Ant International’s Bettr partnered with Muslim Pro to launch a Shariah-compliant Umrah financing solution in Malaysia

Superhero, an Australian investment startup, launched Superhero Crypto in partnership with Bitstamp by Robinhood, enabling investors to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

BGL, an Australian cloud-based corporate compliance company, partnered with OnboardMe to integrate client onboarding with Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) compliance, supporting 80,000 accounting firms.

Binance launched European-style commodity options on gold and silver through Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)-regulated exchange.

Centricity, a wealth management startup, raised ₹280cr ($30M).

Sterling, a New Zealand AI finance autopilot startup, raised NZD3.8M ($2.2M).

BLOX, a Malaysian startup providing ringgit-backed stablecoin MYRC, raised $1M.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) sought public comments on consultation paper reviewing accredited investor framework.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) modified regulatory framework for Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPPs) in August 2026.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) standardised interest rate-setting across banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and cooperatives, requiring lenders to maintain loan spreads for minimum three years.

India's Supreme Court directed Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to standardise occupant and pillion rider coverage in motor insurance policies, potentially increasing claim costs for insurers.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) approved four new pension funds, bringing total to 14, targeting 350-400M National Pension Scheme (NPS) subscribers in five years.

India's parliamentary standing committee recommended self-reliant revenue model for UPI ecosystem, citing ₹21,000cr ($2.2bn) operational costs versus ₹2,000cr ($210M) government allocation.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated banks succeeding in the artificial intelligence (AI) era require complete transformation in risk evaluation, customer service, capital pricing, and operations with clear accountability.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) closed its Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR(B)) deposit scheme early after mobilising $52bn in 67 days.

Singapore crypto exchanges implemented Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) rules requiring customer tax residency determination and transaction reporting.

PB Fintech reported 41% YoY insurance premium growth in Q1 FY27; GST-led demand surge faded as company expands health and term insurance.

India's Margin Trading Facility (MTF) book grew 5x to ₹1.3 lakh crore ($13.6bn) since FY23.

India's Equity mutual fund inflows fell 42% YoY to ₹25K crore ($2.6bn) in July 2026, though Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) contributions grew to ₹32K crore ($3.3bn).

Pine Labs reported ₹737cr ($77M) revenue in Q1 FY27, growing 20% YoY with profit after tax quadrupling to ₹20cr ($2.1M), while launching P3P, its agentic payment protocol and Credit Line on UPI infrastructure primitives.

BRICS countries examined ways to cut cross-border payment costs through interoperability between members' instant payment networks and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) connections.

Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) grew retail loans 20% YoY in June, outpacing banks' 16% growth, driven by loan against jewellery and consumer durables.

India's microfinance portfolio at risk fell to 2.3% in June 2025 from 2.6% in March 2025 per CRIF High Mark.

Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) purchased ₹26,304cr ($2.75bn) bad loans in Q1 FY26, up 56% YoY.

Easebuzz, an Indian B2B payment gateway, reported ₹716cr ($75M) revenue growth of 9.1% YoY in FY26, but profit fell 42% to ₹11 cr ($1.1M).

Slice, an Indian digital banking startup, reported net profit of ₹51cr ($5.6M) in Q1 FY27, with total income growing by 38.6% YoY to ₹414cr ($44M).

Sahi, an Indian stock broking startup climbed to 18th position with highest 13.6% MoM growth among brokers.

FlexiLoans achieved ₹3,000cr ($315M) loan Assets Under Management (AUM) serving 70,000+ MSMEs across 11,000+ locations.

A new 'Katsu Curry Index' emerged to measure Japanese yen weakness by tracking curry dish prices at CoCo Ichibanya restaurants.

Skyro, a Bahrain-based digital consumer finance startup, expanded into Saudi Arabia.

Singapore upgraded its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 4.5%–5.5% (from 2%–4% in February), citing the AI boom’s lift to trade and manufacturing as key drivers.

MUFG is running a proof-of-concept to settle Japanese Government Bond repo trades on the Canton Network blockchain, to enable 24/7 real-time settlement.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported Roshan Digital Account (RDA) inflows reached $282M, growing 52% YoY.

AsiaFIN Holdings, a Malaysian payments company, reported net income of $431K in Q2 2026, driven by 50.5% YoY revenue growth to $1.52M.