PwC's FinTech Insights - October & November 2023

PwC insights of the month

Financial freedom for platform workers and the self employed

As on-demand employment becomes increasingly prevalent, there is an egregious increase in the challenges and limitations faced by a particular self-employed segment –the platform workers. It is widely recognisedthat this segment’s financial needs and requirements are both unmet and underserved. Given the rapid growth of this demographic, it is pertinent for us to deep dive into their perceptions and sentiments around financial freedom, their financial behavioursand attitudes. In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower set up the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers in 2021 to better understand this ecosystem and laid down a list of 12 recommendations centredaround financial protection.

To know more about the level of perceived and expected financial freedom for platform workers, and how they and platform companies view the recommendations provided by the Advisory Committee, read more here.

We are delighted to share that PwC India, in partnership with Quona Capital,organised a FinTech Mixer on the sidelines of the recently conducted SingaporeFinTech Festival held between 15-17 Nov 23.Our event comprised a panel discussion on the FinTech ecosystem followed by a networking mixer event. Panellists included Amit G Jain (FinTech TRS Partner at PwC; Moderator), Ganesh Rengaswamy (Co Founder and Managing Partner at Quona ) Ankur Mehrotra (President, JULO), and Vincent Henry Iswaratioso (CEO and Co Founder, DANA).

The panel discussion included topics such as emerging and new business models in the FinTech industry, lessons from building companies, success stories of the founder panellists as well as road to IPO challenges, opportunities and key considerations

From around the web

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

Open API banking solution provider Codebase Technologies is launching a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) solution in partnership with Visa and Egypt-based PayTecheFinanceInvestment Group. Read more.
Mexican FinTech start-up Trafalgar, which aims to provide financial services for SMEs, has partnered with Thought Machine to leverage its core banking technology. Read more.
US-based Valley National Bank has partnered with FusionIQto implement its cloud-based digital wealth management solution. Read more.
Amazon has added buy now, pay later (BNPL) to its Amazon Business platform through the expansion of its partnership with Affirm, a point of sale (PoS) financing and online payment solutions provider headquartered in San Francisco, US. Read more.
Proven Group, a financial services provider in the Caribbean, is standardisingits back officeoperations on the Olympic core banking system. Read more.
The board of the US Federal Reserve has proposed a new cap on the maximum interchange fee a debit card issuer can receive for a transaction. The proposals specifically seek to determine whether interchange fees for processing a transaction are ‘reasonable and proportional to certain issuer costs’. Read more.
Elavon Financial Services DAC, a wholly owned subsidiary of US Bank, has been authorisedby the Bank of England as a licencedprovider of financial services. Read more.
NET Credit Union has partnered with Bankjoyto deploy its online and mobile onboarding solution for new customers. Through the partnership, the credit union will leverage Bankjoy’sonline account opening solution to streamline the onboarding process in a bid to acquire new members and grow its deposits. Read more.
Citi and Navan have jointly launched a new travel and expense system designed for Citi Commercial Bank cardholders. Navan’s travel and expense management solution has been combined with the bank’s commercial card offerings by leveraging Navan Connect, its card link technology. Read more.
FinTech unicorn Airwallexis expanding into Latin America with the acquisition of Mexican payment service provider MexPago. Read more.
Alpaca, a US brokerage platform for stock and crypto trading, has entered intoa strategic partnership with Japan’s SBI Group in a bid to extend its reach into Asia. Read more.
Republic Bank of Arizona (RBAZ) has partnered with Biz2X, a turnkey software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for small business lending and digital banking developed by New York-based Biz2Credit. Read more.
Visa has partnered with the Virginia-headquartered security operations provider Expel to make it easier for clients to anticipate and protect against cyberthreats. Read more.

Swedish Payments firm Brite, which utilisesopen banking to offer businesses account-to-account payments and payouts solutions, raised USD 60 million in a new funding round. The funding round was led by Dawn Capital (B2B software investor) and joined by a couple of other investors. Briteplans to utilisethis new round of funding for expanding geographically and invest in product development. Read more.
London-based LendtechUncapped has secured USD 250 million in debt financing, provided by one of their previous long-term investment partners. Read more.
Policymakers from Switzerland (FINMA), the UK (FCA), Japan (FSA) and Singapore (MAS) have created a joint initiative to identify and explore potential digital asset use cases. The joint initiative will focus on knowledge sharing and foster discussions on the benefits and risks of asset and fund tokenisation. Read more.
Volt, a real-time payments platform based in the UK, has announced its expansion into Australia. Read more.
UK SME lender Nucleus Commercial Finance has secured a funding facility of up to GBP 200 million from NatWest to fuel its business loans. Read more.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has authorisedSwedish BNPL firm Klarna to provide regulated payment and credit services in the UK. Read more.
Scottish challenger Alba Bank has selected nCino’scloud banking platform to power its lending operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. Read more.
Apple Pay has launched a new feature for customers in the UK, allowing them to connect their accounts to eligible debit and credit cards in their Apple Wallet, via open banking technology. Read more.
Australia’s AMP Bank and Salt Bank in Romania have been named as the two latest adopters of Starling Bank’s BaaS technology platform Engine. Read more.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based subsidiary of Indian FinTech company InfibeamAvenues Ltd, Avenues World FZ LLC, which owns and operates UAE’s payment gateway brand –CCAvenue.ae, announced the introduction of its mobile-based QR Code payment solution in the UAE market for merchants to tap into the burgeoning offline payments landscape. Read more.
Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FynPay, a Qatari FinTech company, aiming to explore a partnership that expands the bank’s digital channels, local footprint and leverage FynPayto make an impact. Read more.
WioBank and Fuze(a digital assets infrastructure provider), both Abu Dhabi FinTechs, to empower its customers with virtual assets trading services. Read more.
Zain FinTech, the financial services arm of Zain, a leading regional telecom group, entered an MoU with Al Ansari Financial Services PJSC, one of the leading integrated financial services groups headquartered in the UAE. This collaboration is focused on harnessing technology to enhance financial services for their customers across markets. Read more.
BKN301 Group, a FinTech company offering innovative payments and BaaS solutions signed a partnership with CWallet, a FinTech startup, to provide financial freedom and inclusion to its customers. Read more.
CredibleX, an embedded finance platform in the Middle East, has announced its launch after being granted regulatory licencesin Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Read more.
Tamara, a leading FinTech platform to shop, pay, and bank in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, has secured an additional up to USD 250 million in debt financing, bringing its total warehouse facility to up to USD 400 million. Read more.
MinitMoney's blockchain-based remittance app opens a Southern Africa corridor, allowing South Africa-based Zambians to send money home efficiently. Read more.
A payment card scheme modelled after India's RuPayintroduced in the UAE this week is set to be operational by the middle of the next year, transforming the country’s payment systems and marking a new era in India-UAE technology partnership. Read more.

National Australia Bank (NAB) is launching a new digital corporate cash management, analytics and forecasting platform powered by the artificial intelligence (AI) technology of its partner and portfolio company, Trovata. Read more.
Yufin, a merchant FinTech platform enabling SMEs in the Philippines, has announced a series of partnerships to bring new services and opportunities to its growing merchant community. Read more.
Cambodia launches new FinTech Development Policy 2023-2028, with a focus on the digitalisationof the financial sector and enabling opportunities for all parties to contribute to the development of Cambodia’s digital economy and society. Read more.
BigPayhas partnered with PayTechfirm Threddto power its payment processing capabilities across the APAC region. Read more.
Comvivahas partnered with GnosysSkill Bridge in a bid to advance digital banking and payment services in India and the Asia Pacific. Read more.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched Gprnt(pronounced ‘Greenprint’), an integrated digital platform to streamline environmental, social and governance (ESG) data collection. Read more.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and other partners have announced the launch of an open global initiative ‘Universal Trusted Credentials (UTC)’ to improve access of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to financing. Read more.
OurCrowd, an Israel-based digital investment platform, and RISE, a Thailand-based corporate innovation powerhouse, have on Tuesday announced the launch of the USD 50 million deep tech fund –Rise OurCrowdExponential (ROCX) Fund. Read more.
Faspayand EzyRemitenter intocross-border payments MoU to enhance the efficiency and ease of cross-border transactions between Australia and Indonesia. Read more.
Standard Chartered announced its participation in the pilot testing programmeof China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as the digital Yuan. Read more.
Ripple and Taiwan’s Fubon Bank have selected UK digital assets consultancy Kodelabto provide the lending protocol technology for a CBDC pilot with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Read more.

OmniCardcollaborates with ONDC to issue corporate gift cards to create more accessible, efficient and secure digital commerce experiences. Read more.
Paytm launched an alternate ID-based guest checkout solution for merchants. Read more.
Flipkart is working on expanding its lending business by supporting a separate entity within the company to distribute personal loans and create an independent credit marketplace. Read more.
Paytm has enabled merchants with alternate ID-based guest checkout solutions across networks. This will allow customers to check out as a guest without saving sensitive card details on an e-commerce or merchant website for a transaction. Read more.
BharatPeis separating its lending service provider (LSP) business from the main entity by forming a new wholly owned subsidiary called 'BharatPeMoney' for lending. The decision to separate the lending vertical is said to be a part of the company’s efforts to strengthen internal corporate governance. Read more.
Paytm reported that it has deployed more than 10,000 payment devices, including soundboxes, QR codes and card machines at gram panchayats across the country to drive digital payments deeper into rural hinterlands. Read more.
Amazon Pay has launched a video sign language Know Your Customer (KYC) service for customers with special needs. The service provides communication in sign languages between the FinTech’s employees and customers who have hearing and speech impairments. Read more.
Hitachi Payment Services, a payments and commerce solutions provider, announced the launch of its innovation programmeHPX for collaborating with FinTech startups for long-term investment. Read more.
India FinTech Forum launches India’s First FinTech Olympiad to promote financial literacy among students. Read more.
Paytm has joined hands with global travel technology company Amadeus to integrate its offerings into its services to redefine its users’ travel experience with AI. Read more.

Incumbent FinTech initiatives

Here are a few incumbent FinTech initiatives launched by Indian financial institutions in October and November 2023:

Insurance major Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is reportedly planning the launch of its FinTech unit for business expansion and has rolled out a project -Digital Innovation and Value Enhancement (DIVE). Read more.
State Bank of India (SBI) is set to launch its YonoGlobal application in Singapore and the US to offer digital remittance and other services to its customers. Read more.
India has issued ~560 million card tokens since October last year, following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) directive to tokenisecards for e-commerce transactions, global payments operator Visa said in its report. Read more.
IndusInd Bank partners with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) to aid in the acceptance of the digital rupee, the RBI’s CBDC. According to the bank’s regulatory filing, this agreement will allow customers at select IGL stations in Delhi NCR to make payments in digital rupees, promoting the use and acceptance of India’s digital currency. Read more.
India Post Payments Bank has signed an MoU with the Commissioner of Treasury, Government of Karnataka, to facilitate digital life certificate (DLC) services to pensioners. The facility is likely to help 5.4 lakh pensioners. Read more.
Godrej Capital has partnered with Visa, Amazon and a global bank for its new digital platform Nirmaanto add to a bouquet of services offered to MSMEs. Nirmaanhas over 13 partners offering different value-added services (VAS) for MSMEs to increase their potential market reach, enable finance and banking support, simplify legal and compliance, enhance employees’ health and welfare, and more. Read more.
Federal Bank has launched Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for NRIs feature on its mobile banking application FedMobile. The feature will also be available on other UPI applications that support global UPI transactions to offer flexibility to the users. Read more.

Regulatory developments

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

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has reportedly approved the application submitted by online bond platforms for the formation of an industry body, the Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPP) association. Read more.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has asked banks and payment applications to deactivate all those UPI IDs and numbers by the end of this year that have not been active for the past one year. Read more.
The RBI is in discussion with its counterparts in the US and Hong Kong, along with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), on cross-border digital bank payments or CBDCs. Read more.
The RBI has permitted banks to open additional current accounts for exports proceeds in addition to special rupee vostro accounts with a view to provide greater operational flexibility to exporters. Read more.
The board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved a regulatory framework for index providers with the objective of fostering transparency and accountability in governance and administration of financial benchmarks in the securities market. Read more.
The RBI has increased the risk weights on consumer credit exposure of banks and NBFCs from 100% to 125% to contain the risk emanating from high growth in certain components of consumer credit. 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
Scapia	Travel FinTech	USD 23 million	Three State Ventures, Tanglin VP, Matrix Partners, Elevation Capital	Read more
Vridhi Home Finance	Housing Finance	USD18 million	Elevation Capital	Read more
Home Capital	Housing Finance	USD 14.5 million	Riverwalk Holdings, LC Nueva, DMI Group, Varanium Capital, Nabventures , Others	Read more
Oro Money	Lending	USD 12.5 million	Three State Ventures, Singularity AMC, 021 Capital, Premji Invest, Others	Read more
UC Inclusive Credit	LendingTech	USD 8 million	Insitor Fund, Aarin Capital	Read more
Jiraaf	WealthTech	USD 8.7 million	Capital A, Harmony Partners, Accel India, Others	Read more
GrowXCD	Lending	USD 6 million	Lok Capital	Read more
Aham Housing Finance	Housing Finance	USD 3.6 million	Negen Capital, and others	Read more
Bimaplan	InsurTech	USD 3.5 million	2 AM Ventures, Finsight Ventures, Orios VP	Read more
Tap Invest	WealthTech	USD 2 million	Superb Capital, Snow Leopard Technology Ventures, and others	Read more
Branchx	Neobanking	USD 0.9 million	Abdul Khaliq, Rais Motlekar , Afzal Modak	Read more
HiWi	Cross Border Transactions	USD 0.87 million	Unicorn India Ventures, and others	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
NPCI	Al Etihad Payments	Payments	To develop the UAE's first domestic card scheme	Read more
IndusInd Bank	Viamericas Corporation	Cross border payments	To enable digital inward remittances from the US to India for Indians residing there	Read more
Fibe	Axis Bank	Payments	To launch a contactless credit card	Read more

Acquirer	Acquiree	Sector	Purpose	Source
Aurionpro	Omnifin	Lending	To complement and enhance its existing portfolio of lending solutions	Read more