India, Singapore to Deepen Fintech Relations; Leatherback, Yes Bank Team Up

India, Singapore to Deepen Fintech Relations

The global fintech landscape is evolving, with digitisation of finance taking centre stage. On the sidelines of these ongoing developments, India and Singapore have decided to deepen their relation around fintech, green economy, and skill development. India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was on a visit to Singapore, when he met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.  

Both, Jaishankar and Singaporean PM Loong discussed in detail how both the countries can collaborate in finetuning their collective fintech spaces. “They exchanged views on deepening engagement in the identified pillars of our cooperation, including fintech, digitalisation, the green economy, skills development and food security,” the media reports quoted India's Ministry of External Affairs as saying.  

Why Leatherback is Teaming Up with Yes Bank in India

Leatherback, an Africa-focussed fintech firm has entered a partnership with Indian lender Yes Bank. The aim is to offer remittance payouts in Rupees that the African diaspora working in India wish to send back home. As per research reports, the trade relations between India and Africa have grown multifold. In 2023, the trade between India and African nations reportedly amounted to $103 billion (roughly Rs. 8,58,496 crore) in 2023. After the EU and China, India has emerged as the third largest trading nation for African countries. Leatherback's remittance solution, SendR, facilitates these international payouts in India's INR currency.

Users of SendR need to provide a valid Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) to complete the payment. This IFSC code will now be provided by Yes Bank. “It is truly special to partner with Yes Bank to connect more global players to emerging opportunities in India. India represents an exciting frontier for us on our mission to make it as easy as possible to move money around the world, and we are looking forward to playing our part in enabling the opportunities that abound in this market, with effective payment solutions,” media reports have quoted Ibrahim Toyeeb Ibitade, CEO of Leatherback as saying.  

IFSCA Launches Fintech Incentive Scheme to Boost Sector's Growth  

India, in recent years, has emerged among world's largest hubs shaping up the modern fintech landscape on an international level. In order to boost the fintech sector, India's IFSCA has launched a new Fintech Incentive Scheme. The aim of this initiative is to develop a state-of-the-art fintech hub in Gujarat's industrial estate of GIFT city.

This facility in the pipeline will be equipped to offer incentives to local and foreign fintech entities (FE) looking for international markets. India's fintech firms will also get facilities to apply for global listings. The IFSCA or the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was established by the Government of India to develop and regulate international financial services centres in the country.

CarDekho's Fintech Arm Rupyy to Plunge Into Personal Loan Sector

Looking to expand its revenues beyond auto loans, CarDekho's investment arm is gearing to enter the personal lending category. The name of this entity is Rupyy and it is aiming to start issuing small-ticket personal loans less than Rs 40,000. “The idea is to monetise on CarDekho's large organic captive base of over 40-50 million active uses,” media reoprts quoted Namit Jain, Co-founder and CEO at Rupyy as saying.  

Upon venturing into the personal loan space, Rupyy will source a small percentage of the loans via its own books through NBFC. The remaining majority of the loans will be through existing and new co-lending partnership with around 40 lenders which include Axis, IDFC, HDFC, Kotak, and IndusInd among others. Rupyy is bound for an IPO in the coming days.