Pratik Bhakta

There is a major consolidation brewing in the insurance distribution space, with two of the large players Insurancedekho and Renewbuy being in talks for a merger. Insurancedekho is in talks to acquire Renewbuy through a share-swap between the two entities, according to three people in the know.

Synopsis According to three industry executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fraudsters are using the accounts of BCs, depositing money at their agent outlets and getting it transferred to multiple accounts through tranches and sometimes even to outside the country via Nepal.

Consumer payment companies like PhonePe, Paytm, Amazon Pay, and Cred have significantly reduced their marketing expenditures and customer incentives, reflecting a maturing digital payments market in India. This trend indicates a shift from aggressive customer acquisition strategies to a more sustainable approach focused on profitability.

Garage is a platform where Cred users can track their vehicle spends, pending traffic ‘challans, and insurance and pollution renewal dates. They can also get assistance in case of roadside breakdown. While vehicle management comes at no cost, Cred is looking to generate revenue from the product through commissions from insurance companies.

According to industry insiders, many companies would use the Pan number of a customer and use the Income Tax departments backend systems to access the customers full name, address, phone number and many such details. To combat this, the Union home ministry through the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has asked to shut down any unauthorised use of PAN of Indian citizens by fintechs and other consumer technology companies.

Existing investors Xponentia Capital, Finsight Ventures, Harbourfront Capital, and Pegasus India Evolving Opportunities Fund, participated in the funding round of the home financing startup.

India is Canva's fifth-largest market with around 139 million presentations created in the last one year and tools like the photo background remover being one of the most popularly used tools. Social media templates for Instagram are among the most popular in India for Canva.

Synopsis The spike in ecommerce transactions with purchases ranging from pet products to books, new digital media subscriptions and even holidays contributed to the upsurge in online payments, according to industry data. Online retailers and digital payment companies had been recording brisk sales right through the festive month, running up to Diwali.

Equal is building a platform which helps businesses streamline their know your customer (KYC) processes and prevent fraud, thereby assisting in regulatory compliance through integration with about 50 identity databases.

Indian banks are turning to artificial intelligence to combat the rising threat of mule accounts used in financial crimes. Fintech firms like Bureau, Clari5, and Datasutram are aiding banks in deploying AI-powered fraud detection systems. These systems analyze account activity in real-time, flagging suspicious patterns and enabling proactive measures against financial fraud.