Recent 6 months news in Banking

Citigroup Inc. has partnered with Axis Bank to provide financing support to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) investing in Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits.

Axis Bank offers FCNR deposit interest rates of up to 6.40%.

The RBI has approved the LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) to acquire up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in HDFC Bank.

It is to be noted that LIC currently holds a 4.11% stake in the bank.

Paul Merchants Finance Pvt Ltd (PMFPL), a diversified Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and a part of the Paul Merchants Group, has launched a “Loan Against Silver” product, becoming the first NBFC in India to establish exclusive branches dedicated to silver loans.

The NBFC has initiated its silver loan operations from the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Under this credit facility, eligible customers can secure loans ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹15 lakh.

Wizzmoni Financial Services Limited (formerly Unimoni), an Indian Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), has partnered with Oman Air to launch a co-branded, AI-powered travel card named “Wizz Voyager Multi-Currency Card” that supports multiple global currencies.

Razorpay, an omnichannel payments platform, has partnered with RBL Bank to launch a Multi-Currency Exchange Earners’ Foreign Currency (EEFC) account.

The account enables exporters and international businesses to retain their earnings in foreign currencies and manage global payments efficiently without immediate conversion into Indian Rupees (INR).

Punjab National Bank has signed an MoU with the Indian Army to offer two credit cards, namely the “PNB LUXURA Metal Credit Card” and the “PNB Parakram Credit Card”.

The SEBI has launched two new web portals, “SEBI Incident Reporting” and “Cyber Suraksha”, to strengthen cybersecurity and information sharing in the securities market ecosystem.

The “SEBI Incident Reporting” portal is an updated version of the existing system designed for structured, timely, and actionable reporting of cyber-incidents.

The “Cyber Suraksha” portal will serve as a centralized hub for sharing cybersecurity information, including vulnerability warnings, policy measures, and incident insights.

Fino Payments Bank has approved the extension of the tenure of Ketan Merchant as the interim CEO for 3 months, effective from August 27, 2026.

IDFC First Bank has executed its maiden $500 million bond issuance through its International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit (IBU) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This transaction marks the official debut of the bank in the global debt capital markets.

The Central Government has appointed Annie George Mathew (former bureaucrat), Janmejaya Sinha (economist), and Syed Akbaruddin (former diplomat) as part-time, non-official directors on the Central Board of the RBI for a 4-year term.

The appointments will be effective from August 24, 2026. It is to be noted that currently, the Central Board of the RBI has 14 members.

The SEBI has released a consultation paper proposing a mandatory, colour-coded “Credit Risk-o-Meter” for debt securities to help investors assess and compare credit risks. This mechanism is based on the existing “Risk-o-Meter” framework for Mutual Funds (MFs), which classifies investment risk into six levels from “Low” to “Very High”.

The new meter will map the conventional credit rating scale (AAA to D) into six visual categories: Lowest credit risk, Very low credit risk, Low credit risk, Moderate credit risk, Moderate risk of default, and High to very high risk of default.

Paramotor Digital Technology Ltd has entered into a co-branded partnership with NSDL Payments Bank Ltd to launch co-branded prepaid cards across India.

The collaboration integrates the technological capabilities of Paramotor with the banking infrastructure and issuance services of the latter to provide secure and compliant prepaid payment solutions to consumers.

YES Bank has launched a lifestyle and rewards-oriented credit card named “YES Essence Credit Card” specifically for women. The card aims to address the evolving healthcare and lifestyle requirements of segments including young professionals, salaried employees, and digital-savvy women.

Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank has entered into a Corporate Agency Agreement (CAA) with HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC Life) to offer a range of customer-centric insurance products.

The Qatar-India Postal Remittance Service, utilizing PosTransfer powered by the UPI, has been operationalized in Doha, Qatar to facilitate faster, secure, and cost-effective cross-border remittance services between both countries.

The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹59.2 lakh on IndusInd Bank Ltd for non-compliance with regulatory directions regarding ‘Interest Rate on Deposits’ and ‘Securitisation of Standard Assets’.

Somanath Panicker, the former Chairman of the ISRO, has been appointed as a part-time, non-official director on the Central Board of the RBI) for 4 years, starting August 20, 2026. Anand Mahindra has also been re-appointed to the board for another 4 years.

It is to be noted that other non-official directors on the board include Venu Srinivasan (Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company), Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel (Chairman of Zydus Lifesciences), and Dr Ravindra H Dholakia.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has granted an Investment Banking licence to Nexent Capital IFSC Pvt Ltd to operate from the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

PMS Bazaar, an alternative investments platform, has partnered with NSDL Database Management Ltd (NDML) to facilitate the SEBI Accredited Investor certification process for eligible investors and entities.

Bengaluru-based Razorpay, a payments technology company, has launched an AI model named “Vulcan” to improve payment success rates and detect fraudulent activities. The model has been trained on a dataset of 4 billion transactions to identify patterns and mitigate risks.